Plodprasop Pushes For 'master Map': New Mapping Database To Be Set Up

[webfact]

New mapping database to be set up
The Nation

Bt140-bn plan for standard maps for all agencies to avoid confusion

BANGKOK: -- A mapping database using a 1:4,000 scale will be made available in the next five years in a move to standardise usage as well as help prepare for long-term planning and development in the country, Deputy Premier Plodprasop Suraswadi said yesterday.

The GPS system would be useful when implementing some projects under the Bt350-billion water-management scheme and the Bt2.2 trillion strategy for large-scale infrastructure, he said, in addition to other projects such as setting out farming zones or forest and land management.

Many government agencies have used a variety of maps with different scales, which has proved problematic when data is shared. For instance, a 1:250,000 ratio is used to designate areas as national parks, while the Land Department uses a 1:40,000 scale for land management, causing confusion over several issues as both agencies have to work together closely.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand uses a 1:2,500 standard, while most other agencies rely on a 1:50,000 scale. The Metropolitan Electricity Authority is the only agency that uses the 1:4,000 scale for reference when distributing electricity bills in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces.

Plodprasob said the mapping scheme would cost around Bt140 billion. But it would be precise and an important strategy in long-term developments and policy-making. It would boost investor confidence, while the Kingdom was becoming a high-income nation from a moderate-income one.

Aerial photographs, satellite images and modern mapping technology assisted by the global positioning system (GPS) will be incorporated into the database to make mapping and re-designation very accurate.

On farmland zoning, he said, enhanced images could show which plots are being used to grow crops. The system would also allow high-resolution photographs that would help the government work out exactly what areas were damaged by flooding and who needs to be compensated.

Half of the budget to set up the communal database would come from the Bt350 billion for water management, while the remaining Bt70 billion will be provided by the government, Plodprasob said. The project's terms of reference should be ready shortly, possibly by next week, he added.

A new agency will possibly be set up to run this new project.

At the moment, all mapping reference operations are run by Thailand Spatial Data Infrastructure (TSDI), which falls under the jurisdiction of the Geo-Infomatics and Space Technology Development Agency.


-- The Nation 2013-03-12

[Thai at Heart]

How do they think these projects and budgets up?

[apetley]

Having worked at Ordnance Survey, the UKs national mapping agency I can really see the benefit in moving to a standard that covers the whole country.

Five years seems an ambitious timescale to me but advances in digital technology will help get the job done.

I am truly amazed at the 140 billion bht cost. Seems a huge amount to me.

Ordnance Survey, widely regarded as one of the best mapping institutions in the world costs 3 maybe 4 billion bht per year.

[dcutman]

At this rate of proposed and reckless spending, the govt better start working on legislation to increase maximum national debt levels from 60% GDP to 160% GDP.

[moe666]

another scam to put money in someones pocket

[draftvader]

Having worked at Ordnance Survey, the UKs national mapping agency I can really see the benefit in moving to a standard that covers the whole country. Five years seems an ambitious timescale to me but advances in digital technology will help get the job done. I am truly amazed at the 140 billion bht cost. Seems a huge amount to me. Ordnance Survey, widely regarded as one of the best mapping institutions in the world costs 3 maybe 4 billion bht per year.

Thank you for your input. I worked supplying one of the top pieces of mapping software used to create vector mapping from digital mapping. The company I worked for was responsible for creating a system of displaying HUGE quantities of raster imagery (satellite, aerial) into the major GIS systems. My point is that to create all the necessary technology to create this kind of mapping would cost the amount they are saying (multiple planes with high imagery lenses, helicopters with static cameras, low altitude satellites, plus software, staffing and computer hardware). The most cost effective route would be to do what other countries have done and outsource to businesses that have done this for a long time. I worked alongside Simmons Aerofilms (now part of Blom) during the largescale high resolution data gathering in the early 00s and their planes were flown all over the world to map for other countries. All this data was acquired by google in the mid 00s to start google maps.

Cheaper than this would be to stop trying to act big on the world stage, contact google and strike up a deal to have Thailand flown at lower altitude then buy a set of licences for google maps as a layer in their GIS systems. Cheaper and more accurate, than vectorising inhouse, would be to pay google just a little more to have their data converted. Then it would just be a case of comparing 2 layers in a GIS and making student projects in mapping the old symbols and labels onto the new layer from the old layer. They could add their military data as another layer within the military to keep it secure.

Of course you could allocate a massive budget, cut a lot of corners and produce something that looks like a 1:4,000 map to all but the people that have to use it. Most of these agencies would be government anyway so the complaints would head up the chain of command. That would leave a tremendous amount of money just lying around for.....who knows what?

[animatic]

Why re-photograph the whole country for this?

They already use Satellite Surveys for all Chanote docs.

Most of the country is already mapped at multiple scales.

Tessabaans across the land all have Chanote markerdata bases

that show millions of properties all done to satellite precision.

Input the existing maps, over-lay them to the common scale digitally

and look for anomalies. When they are found send crews out to reconcile them to the master scale.

Sure there will be some sections needing aerial photos, but those likely exist already.

Like from Google maps or USA satellite surveys. No need to go reshoot.

The data is mostly already extant in databases and maps,

they just need to make it all fit to the common scale.

The Google maps idea is good too. This info is generally already somewhere ready for use.

Of course that would massively stifle the ability to siphon off 20% of 140 billion baht to friends and cronies.

Edited March 12, 2013 by animatic

[Crossy]

A slack handful of PCs using Google maps = 139.9 Billion to cream off

[Katipo]

Slightly off topic. Does anyone know why you can download (store offline) google maps in Thailand? Most neighbouring countries allow you to do this (incl. Myanmar).

[vijer]

What a load of crap. The idea of a common map is a good one, but the belief that it will cost billions to implement is just crazy. What kind of cartography department do they have here? Can't they just change the scale and print new maps that reflect the new scale? And what about the military, do they use a different system? Maybe the military only has maps for the border regions of Thailand.

[Thai at Heart]

maybe the US could lend them a couple of planes with some high powered cameras to do all the work for them, for free??

[Pimay1]

maybe the US could lend them a couple of planes with some high powered cameras to do all the work for them, for free??

Good one. They would have to check with China first for permission.

[SamuiRes]

For those interested in this subject, here is a short paper I wrote on Thailand's Survey Stations last year.

Thailand Survey Stations.pdf

[draftvader]

For those interested in this subject, here is a short paper I wrote on Thailand's Survey Stations last year.

It was GPS accuracy issues that caused a premature diagnosis of changing the laws of physics a few years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPERA_experiment

[belg]

what? a map / database costing 140 billion baht ???????????????????

somebody is going to make a scale model of thailand in an area in bangkok at 100.000 baht per square meter ?

[DoctorD]

Accurate maps at such a large scale *are* expensive, and Thailand needs them. The currently available digital data layers are scattered, incomplete, out-of-date, and riddled with errors.

This is not just a question of locating roads, water bodies, and other items you can "see" in a satellite image or aerial photo. One of the most critical data layers required is accurate elevation data, which requires either high resolution stereo images or LiDAR (laser-based sensing). Both of these data sources are labor- and capital-intensive as well as time-consuming to acquire.

This is a far more worthwhile expenditure of my Thai taxes than giving rebates to first-time car owners. I just worry that they will will not do the job right. (And I'm sure they will outsource significant parts of the effort - as they should.)

[AleG]

Let me get this straight, out of the 140 Billion ( ) 70 would be taken from the 350 Billion emergency budget to prevent flooding, approved by decree, bypassing parliamentary scrutiny because, well, it was an emergency and the money is needed right this instant! This money, from that emergency fund is to be used in a dubiously connected way its intended purpose 7 years after the emergency decree?

[Payboy]

Plodprasop said the mapping scheme would cost around Bt140 billion.

Sounds like someone has a treasure map already.

[Thaddeus]

Plodprasop couldn't find his own arse with both hands, but it's a fair wager that he knows the account numbers that count off by heart.