Committee asks festival stallholders to play fair
Committee asks festival stallholders to play fair
More than 20 members of the Vientiane Boat Racing Festival's subcommittee on product inspection and pricing went to street fair stalls yesterday asking sales assistants to display price signs.
The subcommittee is checking every stall and sales outlet around the Mekong riverside, particularly in Vat Chan and Xieng Ngeun villages.
Sub committee representative Mr Nouman Phongthisane said officials went to every stall in the festival area asking them to display prices to ensure transparency for both local and foreign customers.
“We have heard that some food stalls are charging high prices but we can't stop them doing that because they might have rented the pitch for a high price. However, if the price is too high we will have to talk with the owners about this,” he said.
The subcommittee wants all sales outlets to display prices to stimulate competition among vendors and keep customers informed.
Mr Nouman said that if one stall charges 20,000 kip for a bowl of noodles while another sells the same dish for 15,000 kip the cheaper one will more than likely have more customers.
One vendor running a meatball stand said that because the rental charge for a pitch was so high, items on sale will also be expensive.
“I believe that goods on sale at the festival this year cost a bit more compared to previous years,” she said.
Over the weekend there were many posts on social media about the high price of food items at the festival. Many of the commentators said the subcommittee should be doing more to police the issue.
The subcommittee has promised to look into prices and ensure they are not too high but stressed that customers should take into consideration the cost of renting a pitch.
Officials will not only inspect price signs at each booth, they will also look for illegal products such as firecrackers or tools that can be used for criminal purposes, while clothes resembling military or police uniforms are also forbidden.
vientiane times
