City workers clean five markets in ‘furious aunties’ neighbourhood

The city workers – who cleared clogged pipes, repaired drain lids, and cleaned footpaths – were joined by 200 vendors in the “big cleaning” activity at the markets and a 500-metre section of Soi Sri Nakharin 55 from a mosque to the entrance to Rama IX park on Sunday morning.

The five markets were temporarily closed last week pending the court ruling, after sisters Rattanachat Seangyoktrakan, 61, and Ranee Saengyoktrakan, 57, caught media attention over their violent protest last month against illegal parking, noise and other neighbourhood problems. 
If the court does not ban markets in the area, there is a possibility that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration would allow the markets to resume business. The BMA has already announced that operators can contact relevant authorities to get a proper licence. 

The two sisters’ axe and shovel assault on a pickup truck that was parked blocking the entrance gate to their home last month was recorded on video clips and uploaded on the Internet. When the clips went viral, initial condemnation changed largely to sympathy for what the family had had to endure as a result of illegal markets around their home.