Corruption Blamed For Attacks On Security Cameras In South

[Lite Beer]

SPECIAL

Corruption blamed for attacks on security cameras in South

Pakorn Puengnetr

The Nation on Sunday

BANGKOK :-- Following a spate of attacks targeting security cameras in the southern border provinces, the government has just awoken to the problem and is acting to prevent corruption in camera procurement that cost a huge amount of the taxpayers' money.

Since many closed-circuit television systems installed in the restive southern provinces are of poor quality and have failed to function effectively, the government has issued a policy that specifications for security cameras must be approved by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.

newsjsJust a month into the new year, at least 100 security cameras have been targeted in arson attacks and thefts. More than 400 cameras have been burnt down in a spate of 10 attacks since the latter half of 2011. Few suspects involved in the attacks have been arrested so it is likely that more security cameras will be destroyed.

A report by a House special committee scrutinising this problem found that the procurement of the security cameras was marred by corruption right from the bidding process. Purchase contracts were found to have been altered and sometimes subcontractors have even abandoned their work.

Officials believe corruption is a part of the reason for so many security cameras being burnt down in coordinated attacks. State agencies requested funds to buy high-quality and high-priced cameras but they ended up buying cheap and low-quality ones in the belief that with insurgency rife in the areas, no one would dare to go to remote areas to check if the cameras they had bought were the same as the one they had proposed to buy. "Burning down the cameras sometimes is the work of officials who want to destroy evidence,'' an official said.

Besides, the quality and quantity of cameras are not sufficient to prevent insurgency. The pictures are grainy and cannot identify the insurgents. The cameras also lack an information back-up system, a memory system and a digital map system that could help officials identify the whereabouts of the attack. Many security cameras are cordless, which do not capture clear pictures and do not record pictures when the weather is bad. Many cameras cannot zoom in or out or turn around to capture a wider angle.

As the camera purchase and installations are done separately by different state agencies such as the Department of Local Administration, the Office of the Permanent Secretary and the Department of Provincial Administration, there has been a lack of coordination. This has led to the cameras not being linked and not strategically installed in a suitable location.

Although most security cameras are digital, only grainy images appear on the monitor screens, each of which can show images from four to eight cameras at a time. Another type of monitor may show pictures captured from one or two cameras by alternating from 20 cameras in the system. The loophole in this type of monitoring is the camera being attacked is not shown on the monitor screen and there is no way for officials to know what is happening.

Many state agencies have chosen this type of security camera because it is cheaper and need fewer officials to monitor the system, besides the possibility of corruption.

"The security cameras are of no use in preventing insurgency, if there is no official to monitor the screen 24 hours. We might be able to use pictures recorded if they are clear enough to hunt down culprits,'' an official said.

Under the new policy, the government requires that new security cameras must be of the same quality so that information can be linked. They must be equipped with a warning system in case of an attack. The warning system helps increase surveillance efficiency as it can reduce the workload of officials who look at the monitors of the cameras. A survey has shown that the efficiency of a person who is looking at 5-10 screens for half an hour drops by 50 per cent.

Zooming in on the problems

Problems related to the closed-circuit cameras used in the restive South, according to an ad hoc House committee:

1 Too few cameras

2 The quality of the cameras is poor

3 Installation of the cameras was done separately by many agencies, leading to lack of proper linkage

4 Militants can cut off power supply and thus shut down the cameras before committing their crimes

5 Cameras lack information back-up system

6 Cameras can only record incidents, but lack other special features such as a face recognition function

7 Cameras lack a digital map system, and some cannot record well in poor weather conditions

8 No comprehensive report and management of the total number of cameras in use

9 Corruption in procurement resulting in the use of substandard cameras used

10 Delayed installation of the cameras due to insurgency

-- The Nation 2013-02-03

[WhizBang]

It never fails to amaze me the depths to which 'Officials' will go to plunder the state coffers.

That said, I also assume that there will be no investigation into the procurement of these poor quality cams, and of course, no arrests or prosecution.

I suppose, following the money trail would never occur to anyone.

Amazing Thailand, indeed.

[fareastguy]

Yep Amazing Thailand indeed.. officials can squeeze a graft out of anything !

Lets source the highest priced CCTV system on the market, bang in the "cap-ex" get the money then go out & buy the cheapest cameras available.

Install them with no linkage between them so in fact they are completely unfit for purpose & bank the proceeds!!

No-one will ever know, because if they start to poke around we will set them alight to destroy the evidence & blame it on the insurgents !!

Then replace them again..

[Thai at Heart]

Everything from paper clips to bomb detectors has a clip on it in Thai government purchasing.

I wouldn't mind so much if it was then fit for the purpose, but TIT

[arthurboy]

Why isn't the Nation reporting that two farmers from Singburi were shot dead yesterday in Pattani? Ten people were also wounded in the attack.

These good people were there on a rice farming knowledge sharing programme.

And now this about the CCTV system. Life isn't even cheap in Thailand; it's utterly worthless.

There are simply no words to describe this.

[Locationthailand]

It's endemic and it's here to stay. It appears Thai's will defend to the death, as in Rajaprasong and the same tactics, smashing and burning security cameras, to cover darker cowardly deeds. But this expose of the details of how the scams are now included in malicious damage, so why not just walk away and let the south continue to fall and let the red shirts riot and burn bangkok at will, or better still, strip the coffers and spread the wealth to the greedy power hungry politicians and then when there is nothing left, the populace at large can scratch their heads and say, well I guess it is our Karma. How pathetic this all is.

[simple1]

It's not the procurement corruption that bothers me to much; BAU in Thailand. Ignoring the safety implications for the security forces and locals is the real issue in my mind - that's the real corruption & unforgivable

[EyesWideOpen]

From reading the news here on a daily basis, it seems to me that EVERY government is riddled with corruption.

But this is it taking it to another magnificent level...

"Burning down the cameras sometimes is the work of officials who want to destroy evidence,'' an official said

I try not to think the worst about Thailand, but ongoing stories like this one make it so hard. Guess Chalerm

got it wrong when he said the cameras were burnt by a losing bidder

[simple1]

From reading the news here on a daily basis, it seems to me that EVERY government is riddled with corruption.

But this it taking it to another magnificent level...

"Burning down the cameras sometimes is the work of officials who want to destroy evidence,'' an official said

I try not to think the worst about Thailand, but ongoing stories like this one make it so hard. Guess Chalerm

got it wrong when he said the cameras were burnt by a losing bidder

You may be interested in a quote from a previous topic that talked to corruption in Thai government agencies:

One category was 'Absence of corruption'. What apparently no-one bothered to do, was look at the actual underlying data and subcategories. And for the corruption part it is very frightening: Although the total score for Thailand for absence of corruption is a 0.41 (1 being the best), which is already rather poor, the specific subcategory '2.4 Government officials in the legislative branch do not use public office for private gain' scored a 0.06 http://worldjusticep...ountry/thailand. Of all the countries looked at, only Ukraine managed to score lower than Thailand.

[arthurboy]

From reading the news here on a daily basis, it seems to me that EVERY government is riddled with corruption.

But this it taking it to another magnificent level...

"Burning down the cameras sometimes is the work of officials who want to destroy evidence,'' an official said

I try not to think the worst about Thailand, but ongoing stories like this one make it so hard. Guess Chalerm

got it wrong when he said the cameras were burnt by a losing bidder

Your point is well made, but the longer I live in Thailand, the more I understand that it's nothing to do with which ever government happens to be in 'power'.

It's the people in them. And to a person, they are simply amoral.

[EyesWideOpen]

From reading the news here on a daily basis, it seems to me that EVERY government is riddled with corruption.

But this it taking it to another magnificent level...

"Burning down the cameras sometimes is the work of officials who want to destroy evidence,'' an official said

I try not to think the worst about Thailand, but ongoing stories like this one make it so hard. Guess Chalerm

got it wrong when he said the cameras were burnt by a losing bidder

Your point is well made, but the longer I live in Thailand, the more I understand that it's nothing to do with which ever government happens to be in 'power'.

It's the people in them. And to a person, they are simply amoral.

It has been said that every group of people have exactly the government they deserve. Certainly true here, with the corrupt wealthy elites able to obtain and hold office by sprinkling money to the peasants. I still maintain that people here in power have carefully studied how the Perons were able to get and hold power in Argentina, and copied it exactly. Sadly in the case of Thailand, in order to keep control over the peasants, you must restrict access to education. And to me that is the true tragedy here. It is sad when I see surveys done in Thailand where people say corruption is fine, and that they wish to get in on it..............

[Rancid]

And so the never ending stream of corruption stories continues daily, of course need to bear in mind that only a tiny percentage of what goes on ever makes the news. I only wonder how far it can go before Thailand becomes a failed state, not now as economically still OK but at some time in the future.

[theajarn]

Our school has security cameras.

They're all for show.

[theajarn]

From reading the news here on a daily basis, it seems to me that EVERY government is riddled with corruption.

But this it taking it to another magnificent level...

"Burning down the cameras sometimes is the work of officials who want to destroy evidence,'' an official said

I try not to think the worst about Thailand, but ongoing stories like this one make it so hard. Guess Chalerm

got it wrong when he said the cameras were burnt by a losing bidder

Your point is well made, but the longer I live in Thailand, the more I understand that it's nothing to do with which ever government happens to be in 'power'.

It's the people in them. And to a person, they are simply amoral.

It has been said that every group of people have exactly the government they deserve. Certainly true here, with the corrupt wealthy elites able to obtain and hold office by sprinkling money to the peasants. I still maintain that people here in power have carefully studied how the Perons were able to get and hold power in Argentina, and copied it exactly. Sadly in the case of Thailand, in order to keep control over the peasants, you must restrict access to education. And to me that is the true tragedy here. It is sad when I see surveys done in Thailand where people say corruption is fine, and that they wish to get in on it..............

That is EXACTLY what is happening. I've been teaching here for 8 years and have only realised it in the last year. I'm leaving the country for good as I have two sons... and I'm not going to let this dung-filled system swallow them.

[JDGRUEN]

A few state of the art drones bought or loaned from the USA would do the trick ... Even a few semi-stationary blimps with a crew of two and drone camera capability would do fine - much cheaper.

[surangw]

corruption of the weak minded with bad ideals should be a higher priority

[Rosco911]

No one is ever charged so corruption will never stop. TIT

[Phuket Stu]

Cameras can only record incidents, but lack other special features such as a face recognition function

As aposed to those in Phuket and Bangkok that do have face reconition. That is why they want a didgital photo at the land border now eh?

[dcutman]

Even when it comes to National security, how f#$cing pathetic. I would not doubt these people would sell their own children!

[Payboy]

Even when it comes to National security, how f#$cing pathetic. I would not doubt these people would sell their own children!

They already are!

[dcutman]

Even when it comes to National security, how f#$cing pathetic. I would not doubt these people would sell their own children!

They already are!

Correct.I should have made that more clear, I would not doubt the government officials would sell their own children.

[seahorse]

From reading the news here on a daily basis, it seems to me that EVERY government is riddled with corruption.

But this it taking it to another magnificent level...

"Burning down the cameras sometimes is the work of officials who want to destroy evidence,'' an official said

I try not to think the worst about Thailand, but ongoing stories like this one make it so hard. Guess Chalerm

got it wrong when he said the cameras were burnt by a losing bidder

You may be interested in a quote from a previous topic that talked to corruption in Thai government agencies:

One category was 'Absence of corruption'. What apparently no-one bothered to do, was look at the actual underlying data and subcategories. And for the corruption part it is very frightening: Although the total score for Thailand for absence of corruption is a 0.41 (1 being the best), which is already rather poor, the specific subcategory '2.4 Government officials in the legislative branch do not use public office for private gain' scored a 0.06 http://worldjusticep...ountry/thailand. Of all the countries looked at, only Ukraine managed to score lower than Thailand.

Thanks for the link. Very interesting. Actually, Kenya is equal to Thailand on that factor and Nigeria is lower.