Growing number of CCTV cameras on Samui

[No1Farang]

Has anybody else noticed the massive increase in CCTV around the island in recent months?  Nearly every road junction has a shiny new pole with cameras looking in every direction.  This is a big budget project that has nothing to do with road safety.  Instead of spending the money on making the road design safer they are spending it on the ability to have a video of the accident!  Or are these cameras for something else? Have they bought the Chinese facial recognition software package?  We all know that the government seem to be obsessed with tracking people, especially foreigners, so is this just one more erosion of personal privacy.  If anybody knows the full correct story behind this project it would be nice to know.

[NCC1701A]

yes it is horrible. but get used to it. we had a big increase in cameras here in Hua Hin about two years ago. 

 

the police actually do track people as they leave the scene of the crime and is some cases all the way to their homes. no need to go outside in the heat. of course only after there is a outcry on Facebook that they do something. 

 

and the cameras are looking at traffic in intersections and recording those very entertaining videos of horrible accidents as Thais speed down the road with no cops in sight.     

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, No1Farang said:

Instead of spending the money on making the road design safer they are spending it on the ability to have a video of the accident! 

There were cameras before in many the electric wire posts, now they got their own CCTV-posts, because an awful lot of money has been spend of making the roads safer, including new high capacity rain water sewers almost all over the island; repairing the former Samui-infamous "black holes"; new or improved pedestrian side walks; extending bridges with side walks; cleaning up the sign mess by the roads and putting up new clear signs with warnings about junctions etc.; new tarmac now almost all parts of the Ring Road for smoother ride; better markings stribes on the road,and in junctions with lane markings for straight and turn; and furthermore upgrading the CCTV cameras – really great work...????????

[Tmoney]

Yeah, the new high capacity rain water sewers in Bophut last Thursday!

[KhunBENQ]

3 hours ago, No1Farang said:

Or are these cameras for something else?

Speed tickets.

Red/yellow light jumpers ticket.

etc.etc. (illegal takeover, - turn....).

...

They produce nice tickets with photo sent to your home.

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by KhunBENQ

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, Tmoney said:

Yeah, the new high capacity rain water sewers in Bophut last Thursday!

That is actually an improvement improvement compared to what it was before...????

[Tmoney]

That's OK then.

[phetphet]

8 hours ago, khunPer said:

There were cameras before in many the electric wire posts, now they got their own CCTV-posts, because an awful lot of money has been spend of making the roads safer, including new high capacity rain water sewers almost all over the island; repairing the former Samui-infamous "black holes"; new or improved pedestrian side walks; extending bridges with side walks; cleaning up the sign mess by the roads and putting up new clear signs with warnings about junctions etc.; new tarmac now almost all parts of the Ring Road for smoother ride; better markings stribes on the road,and in junctions with lane markings for straight and turn; and furthermore upgrading the CCTV cameras – really great work...????????

Now they just need to fix all the traffic lights that have been out for months (years), and the incinerator so they can reduce the trash mountain. AND of  course, make sure the CCTV is switched on.

[Tropicalevo]

9 hours ago, Tmoney said:

Yeah, the new high capacity rain water sewers in Bophut last Thursday!

Easy to make sarcastic comments if you are a new boy on the block.

To me, those photos do not show floods. That is just surface water that usually drains out at the next low tide.

(Samui is an island. Most of the rain from the road system goes into the sea. This is not possible in most areas at high tide eg Bophut/Bangrak/Choengmon.)

The water in those photos is probably just 2 - 3 centimeters deep. It does not even come halfway up the kerb.

That would not be classed as a flood by most people. Even the motor cycle is overtaking the cars. In a flood, the rider would be pushing the bike.

Back on topic.

I do not believe that speed tickets are the reason for the CCTV cameras. I have been told that they are for checking accidents or crimes, of which there are many. Personally, I see them as a bonus for when some pratt drives into my car as has happened a couple of times.

Is there a difference between official CCTV and private people with 'in car cameras'? Both are intrusive in our lives but..... for a good reason.

[Tmoney]

Apologies if I unintentionally upset you by posting the photos TE.

Just trying to show how it was last week.

Who mentioned floods? Not me.

By the way, the new boy on the block has lived in Plai Laem for 18 years.

[khunPer]

2 hours ago, phetphet said:

Now they just need to fix all the traffic lights that have been out for months (years), and the incinerator so they can reduce the trash mountain. AND of  course, make sure the CCTV is switched on.

The stopped using traffic light, as traffic runs better without them, Bophut-Fisman Village intersection is a good example (apart from comparing with the long periode with road work). In Nathong the traffic light was changed to a roundabout.

 

The incinerators – the should be two – is a different story, and probably also budget...

[khunPer]

CCTV is great for safety – I often feel that those against CCTV in public areas must be the same ones that have something to hide...????

[timendres]

46 minutes ago, khunPer said:

CCTV is great for safety – I often feel that those against CCTV in public areas must be the same ones that have something to hide...????

Or those aware of where it can lead us...

 

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by timendres

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, timendres said:

Or those aware of where it can lead us...

–and find terrorists, murders, rapers and other criminals. If you got nothing to hide, I don't see any reason to fear...????

[impulse]

7 minutes ago, khunPer said:

–and find terrorists, murders, rapers and other criminals. If you got nothing to hide, I don't see any reason to fear...????

 

Right up until they tie your facial recognition to your online persona and determine they really don't like your behavior and the things you say about the BIB and Thais in general.  How many bars and how many hookers last week alone?  And all those illegal u-turns?  Good guys in, bad guys out...

 

To be fair, I don't mean you personally.  I've generally enjoyed reading your posts.  But a lot of the guys on here...

 

[timendres]

9 minutes ago, khunPer said:

–and find terrorists, murders, rapers and other criminals. If you got nothing to hide, I don't see any reason to fear...????

... is bliss.

[torturedsole]

The CCTV could come in handy if you lost your wallet.  

[ronaldo0]

If you are doing nothing wrong outside your home then why should cctv be a problem anywhere in the world ?

A video clears things up far better In most cases than someone’s statement if a crime is committed .

 

[BritManToo]

12 minutes ago, ronaldo0 said:

If you are doing nothing wrong outside your home then why should cctv be a problem anywhere in the world ?

A video clears things up far better In most cases than someone’s statement if a crime is committed .

 

As my brief used to say ........

Deny you were there, many CCTV cameras don't work, and the rest are usually of too poor quality for positive identification.

[ronaldo0]

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

As my brief used to say ........

Deny you were there, many CCTV cameras don't work, and the rest are usually of too poor quality for positive identification.

This is true , especially in this country where it works or doesn’t depending on who you are or how fat your wallet is ! ????

[robertson468]

It would be great if they could combine the CCTV Cameras as Speed Trap Cameras.  I live just off the main road in Bophut and after about 1800 hours and later, you can hear big bykes, little bykes and cars screeming along the road, clearly doing much more than the speed limit.  Remember to moto, "Speed kills", which is very relevant to some of the driving in Thailand.  Apart from which, it would make a nice little income, perhaps to be able to afford a good incinerator?

[tifino]

more useful for seeing when/if the bars 'n'beaches ????  are Open? 

https://wwitv.com/tv_channels/b7100-Koh-Samui.htm

 

[khunPer]

10 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Right up until they tie your facial recognition to your online persona and determine they really don't like your behavior and the things you say about the BIB and Thais in general.  How many bars and how many hookers last week alone?  And all those illegal u-turns?  Good guys in, bad guys out...

 

To be fair, I don't mean you personally.  I've generally enjoyed reading your posts.  But a lot of the guys on here...

Thanks, but I have no fear – and I don't do U-turns, apart from the walking path in the nightlife area if the girl(s) I passed are too gorgeous – and I don't mind facial or other recognition, it actually makes me feel safe that somebody know where I might be lost; I liked since many years ago all the cameras when regularly visiting London, made me feel safe there...????

[bkk6060]

On 6/3/2020 at 11:11 AM, No1Farang said:

Instead of spending the money on making the road design safer they are spending it on the ability to have a video of the accident! 

If someone runs you down on the road.

Or, kicks your butt for basically no reason.

Or, your family member is the victim of a crime.

You will be asking:  Where are the cameras?

 

They are if nothing else for saftey and like someone said, tracking crimnals.

Like that crack in the box killer from the jewelry shop a few months back caught the guy on one of these cameras on his motorbike driving into his complex.

 

I like them and hope they have more.

 

 

[BritManToo]

12 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

If someone runs you down on the road.

Or, kicks your butt for basically no reason.

Or, your family member is the victim of a crime.

You will be asking:  Where are the cameras?

 

They are if nothing else for saftey and like someone said, tracking crimnals.

There's a lot to be said for concealed carry.

[KC 71]

12 hours ago, timendres said:

Or those aware of where it can lead us...

 

 

And remember to stay 2m apart ????

[Krataiboy]

On 6/3/2020 at 12:58 PM, khunPer said:

There were cameras before in many the electric wire posts, now they got their own CCTV-posts, because an awful lot of money has been spend of making the roads safer, including new high capacity rain water sewers almost all over the island; repairing the former Samui-infamous "black holes"; new or improved pedestrian side walks; extending bridges with side walks; cleaning up the sign mess by the roads and putting up new clear signs with warnings about junctions etc.; new tarmac now almost all parts of the Ring Road for smoother ride; better markings stribes on the road,and in junctions with lane markings for straight and turn; and furthermore upgrading the CCTV cameras – really great work...????????

Yep, it's all for our safety and security. Go back to sleep, people.

[Tropicalevo]

3 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Yep, it's all for our safety and security. Go back to sleep, people.

Agreed. There are probably more cameras on bikes and in cars/trucks.

I am more concerned about the phone tracking apps. Do we really think that the information that they take will be deleted in the future?

Off topic but.... went to Tops yesterday. No temperature check and no QR code. Just sign the form.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Tropicalevo

[BigC]

On 6/3/2020 at 11:31 AM, NCC1701A said:

yes it is horrible. but get used to it. we had a big increase in cameras here in Hua Hin about two years ago. 

 

the police actually do track people as they leave the scene of the crime and is some cases all the way to their homes. no need to go outside in the heat. of course only after there is a outcry on Facebook that they do something. 

 

and the cameras are looking at traffic in intersections and recording those very entertaining videos of horrible accidents as Thais speed down the road with no cops in sight.     

They are also mused to find out what happened when there was a vehicle accident 

 

Not just the government that have extra cctv cameras 

 

They are on every mobile phone

 

DVR are In almost every  car

Private CFTC from houses over look roads

 

Everyone  is being watched even the goverment 

 

As for tracking foreigners this is BS

 

The reason why they want bit track foreigners is because Thais are a lot more easier to track. They all have chips ok their ID cards. The government  can find out anything abouts  aby Thais 

 

Foreigners on the other hand are harder to track than Thais

 

So forangs stop moaning about being tracked and acting like your  being  picked on because your  not 

 

Forangs can be more invisible than  Thais 

 

So stop moaning 

[Samui Bodoh]

Interesting thread, but one that I find rather scary, even though I also don't do any law-breaking. Or, at least, not much these days...

 

Two comments stand out to me;

 

@khunPer's comment on how he felt safer in London hit home; my first 'experience' in noticing cameras occurred a very long time ago in the UK as well, although I was up in Edinburgh, Scotland. I was shocked and more than a little perturbed; quite honestly I would not have re-visited the city had it not been for my girlfriend living there. That said, over time I got used to them and did enjoy the feeling of safety, but... What brought me around was the knowledge that I was in the UK, the police were generally quite professional, it was a society that had respect for privacy and rights, there was a serious and identifiable threat (it was the era of British football hooliganism) and the use of the cameras was governed by a public policy process.

 

@Tropicalevo's comment(s) that cameras are everywhere (cars, bikes, etc.) is quite true, but it is a false comparison and a false equivalency to state that an individual camera set up on the dashboard of a car is the same as an entire integrated surveillance system designed to monitor a large area, ie. the island. While it is true that cameras are everywhere these days, and integrated system is entire orders of magnitude more serious and, in my view, more worrying. 

 

CCTV is, to me, a lot like nuclear power. Nuclear power, used one way, is a non-carbon producing means of generating huge amounts of electricity to power our lives. Used another way, nuclear power is utilized in creating the most destructive devices in human history, and two such devices were used in Japan less than a hundred years ago. What matters is the hand behind the curtain...

 

I don't worry about the CCTV cameras too much; as noted above I don't do much illegal these days. However, I do worry about the people and policies behind them. One example from the thread is the probability that a camera will be "not working" in direct proportion to the status of the person asking. Another factor determining whether the camera is working or not will almost certainly be the nationalities of any people caught in a dispute; does anyone want to argue that a Burmese person will have the same 'camera efficiency' as a Thai person? Stories abound in Thailand of mysterious 'brown envelopes'; does anyone want to make the case that the cameras will be used for the benefit of all, and used both fairly and equally? Anyone? Finally, I know of no set of rules, or framework, or general (pun intended) guidelines regarding their use; anyone? The example of a car accident was raised earlier in the thread; is there some sort of process of getting the tape if desired? Do you pay for it? Is it distributed to both parties? Is there (formal or informal) discretion on the part of the officers? As far as I know, the police have the tape and can do whatever they like with it; that doesn't build confidence.

 

This sense of security that several posters have discussed; is it worth it to you? In a country that doesn't have a tradition of respect for individual rights, that has had twenty plus coups in under a hundred years, that has little to no accountability of its security forces, that doesn't really have a free media, that has a reputation for some corruption, and that isn't known for it effective and dispassionate sense of justice? I don't mind saying that I am more than a little uncomfortable with even more tools for surveillance and monitoring of the populace and what those tools might be used for.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Samui Bodoh
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