Food street fad hits wall

The recent plea by Banthat Thong Road restaurateurs for urgent assistance from the government should serve as a wake-up call, not a rallying cry for rescue packages. Their predicament, while unfortunate for individual operators, epitomises the unsustainable practices of building businesses on social media spectacle rather than culinary excellence.

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The lesson applies not only to food-and-beverage ventures but also to Thailand's broader, government-funded "soft power" agenda. Up until a few years ago, the 2.5km-long Banthat Thong Road, which runs behind Chulalongkorn University and the National Stadium, had been a quiet neighbourhood known for sporting goods and second-hand machinery shops.

From 2020, however, this uninspiring strip experienced a dramatic transformation as hundreds of modern-looking restaurants and cafes offering a "unique food experience" replaced the run-down shophouses of the past.

Heavy promotion quickly modified Banthat Thong into a "street food paradise"— ranked as the world's 14th best street by Time Out and hailed by food bloggers as a "second Yaowarat" for Asian foodies. The manufactured fame, apparently built on Instagram-worthy aesthetics and marketing blitz rather than authentic culinary heritage, has now proven too fragile.