Thai Police to tag young street racers with electronic bracelets in November

[webfact]

Police to tag young street racers with electronic bracelets in November
By Coconuts Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- Police will start attaching electronic monitoring tags to caught street racers, many of whom are teenage 'dek waens,' in November.

The move is an effort to keep the young daredevils off the streets and out of trouble.

The timetable was unveiled by Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri on Wednesday. The scheme will later be expanded to other prison inmates if the trial on the dek waen proves successful.

Electronic monitoring tags fitted to offenders enable authorities to track their position through use of GPS technology and location verification units.

It is part of a plan to ease the massive overcrowding in prisons and juvenile homes across the country, and release selected inmates into home detention.

There are about 270,000 inmates in prisons across the country and the Corrections Department says the figure is rising by 3,000 a month and will easily surpass 300,000 next year. About 70% of the inmates are serving sentences for drug offenses. [read more...]

Source: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2013/08/21/police-tag-young-street-racers-electronic-bracelets-november

-- Coconuts Bangkok 2013-08-21

[Redhawk]

The gov. is not running out of jokes here!

[Robby nz]

About 200 street racers were expected to "benefit" from the pilot scheme

Liked that bit specially the italics.

Should it not be the benefit of the public that is the first concern?

[Soutpeel]

The gov. is not running out of jokes here!

I wonder if these devices will be as sucessful at tracking people as the bomb detectors were finding bombs ?

[GentlemanJim]

Will that be tagging young 'poor' street racers? or does it include wealthy street racers high on drugs who slaughter policemen at 5am and then try and say 'the Butler did it'

[PoodMaiDai]

How exactly will this stop them from racing? I think we all know that no one is going to be watching these and chasing down kids who leave their house.

[ChrisY1]

The gov. is not running out of jokes here!

I wonder if these devices will be as sucessful at tracking people as the bomb detectors were finding bombs ?

Well....they're likely made in China....and probably a slight delay in the delivery....but the programming of the devices "should" work ok....battery life expected to last 12 hours....!

[Jimi007]

The gov. is not running out of jokes here!

I wonder if these devices will be as sucessful at tracking people as the bomb detectors were finding bombs ?

Good one Soutpeel! Even after the fraudster has been convicted and locked up, some Thai Government officials are still trying to "save face!"

[Crossy]

My immediate thought was that someone will hack them into an electronic timing system for the races.

[kimincm]

In some cases the children of rice farmers meet the technological age,the twain shall never meet and who's going to police this,not the police.I'd make mine the local soi dogs collar.

Edited August 21, 2013 by kimincm

[LuckyLew]

I can just see two donut filled BIB's on a pink FINO's chasing young kids in tricked out rides down rama9 now

[A1Str8]

The gov. is not running out of jokes here!

Thats right!

I have been wondering how authorities here are always able to come up with the weirdest and mostly useless ideas to solve problems.

[mamypoko]

Tag...you're IT!

[surangw]

a dog shock type collar with a remote would be a better choice ( and connected to their giblets if possible )

[BrianCR]

Thank you all you Thai haters, the system works in every other country, why not here?

[Torrens54]

Will that be tagging young 'poor' street racers? or does it include wealthy street racers high on drugs who slaughter policemen at 5am and then try and say 'the Butler did it'

Er, what happened, if anything to that guy?

[XINLOI]

Thank you all you Thai haters, the system works in every other country, why not here?

Well, we all know that there will be no enforcement of violation on the anklets. That is why it works in other countries. Here a 200 BT tip and a look the other way will work just fine. Police here are not for policing duties. They are here to make money, not enforce the law!

[Loptr]

Perhaps they are tagging them to make them more easily identifiable when they wrap themselves around a light pole at 200kph.

[webfact]

Tags for inmates to ease crowding
Piyanut Tumnukasetchai
The Nation



Devices to be first tried on young traffic-law violators

BANGKOK: -- Thailand is set to use electronic tagging for some convicted offenders in November as a means to ease overcrowding at correctional facilities.

While 200 delinquents will be the first wearers of tagging devices, it is likely some groups of adult inmates will be in line for the tagging option soon, too.

"With electronic tagging, the young offenders will be able to return to their families, while correctional facilities will see their burden ease," Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri said yesterday.

He said the ratio of prisoners to prison officials in Thailand is now at 50:1 - about 10 times higher than the international standard.

"We have to address this problem. As a result, we have considered electronic tagging," the minister said.

He disclosed that the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection had planned to use the electronic tagging on young traffic-law violators first.

Probation Department director-general Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol, meanwhile, explained that the department would propose which inmates should be allowed to use the electronic tagging in place of their detention and her department would assure the court that it had the devices ready.

"We will lease 200 sets of devices from a South Korean firm with a Bt5-million budget," Chaikasem said. He added that each set weighed just 300 grams.

He said the devices would immediately alert authorities if their wearers tried to remove them or wore them out of authorised zones.

Corrections Department director-general Suchart Wong-ananchai said the electronic tagging would be tested among the delinquents for six months before being extended to cover some groups of adult inmates too.

He suggested that these groups were inmates in terminal stages of illness, inmates who needed to take care of their helpless dependants, inmates with chronic diseases and constant need for medical treatment, and inmates with pregnancies, newborn babies, and mental illnesses.

Chaikasem said the Corrections Department planned to lease electronic-tagging devices for 6,000 inmates in these groups.

Suchart explained that although his department had operated a 500-bed hospital, it could recruit just 20 permanent doctors.

"In fact, we need as many as 50 permanent doctors. So, it's hard for us to provide comprehensive healthcare services to all ill inmates," he said.

Presently, there are about 270,000 inmates in the country.

He added that while prisons could send their sick inmates to a big state hospital, the process was quite complicated

"Such medical facilities do not have special rooms for prisoners. So, we worry that some inmates will try to run away during their stay at hospital," he said.

Suchart said two prison officials were usually required to accompany an inmate when he or she went to a hospital.

"The problem is that we don't have enough prison officials to arrange such hospital trips," he said. Suchart said his department had already asked the Public Health Ministry to consider creating prisoner patient rooms at big state hospitals. "The Public Health Ministry has agreed to create such rooms," he added.


-- The Nation 2013-08-22

[Soutpeel]

"We will lease 200 sets of devices from a South Korean firm with a Bt5-million budget,"

This being Thailand, I am amazed the budget is so small, US 800 a device sounds almost reasonable

[stoli]

Why all the naysayers? Whoops, I forgot, TV is for bashing. Electronic monitoring has been used all over the world, successfully, for decades. It is been proven that it works. Maybe the rest of you would prefer that Thailand just ignore the dangerous street racing, and let you be run over and killed. Really, the depth of intelligence in this community just keeps dropping lower.

Okay, I am done with this subject. Now you can bash my response. Back to work.....

[Ricardo]

Oh Goody, a new must-have fashion-accessory, for all cool dudes !

Where will I be able to purchase my counterfeit inoperative 'electronic bracelet', I want to appear fashionable, but can't ride a motorbike ?

[chrisinth]

How exactly will this stop them from racing? I think we all know that no one is going to be watching these and chasing down kids who leave their house.

They could be speed flagged. Any anklet seen to be doing over 100kph sets the alarm.

However, on the other leg.............................

[Soutpeel]

Why all the naysayers? Whoops, I forgot, TV is for bashing. Electronic monitoring has been used all over the world, successfully, for decades. It is been proven that it works. Maybe the rest of you would prefer that Thailand just ignore the dangerous street racing, and let you be run over and killed. Really, the depth of intelligence in this community just keeps dropping lower.

Okay, I am done with this subject. Now you can bash my response. Back to work.....

I dont think anyone is disputing electronic monitoring works, but once you have been here a while one notices, that Thailand has the habit of taking succesful/proven systems/programs from other parts of the world etc...putting their own spin on it and making a c*ck of it

[theblether]

They'd be better off actually introducing compulsory driver training and a driving test that was fit for purpose.

It'll take years for it to filter through but they have to start somewhere, and with the young is the obvious place to start,

[gemini81]

looks like the bracelets used for convicted drunk drivers in some countries.

[technologybytes]

This bracelet will become a badge of honor amongst street racers, you will soon be able to buy a fake one in any street market for fashion purposes!

[thhMan]

There is already a police force... Why not just put them to work... After all, thats why they are being paid, isnt it?

I know in Pattaya that everything is ok for anarchy at midnight, as that is when all police go home (or appear to as they cannot be found)

[Bagwan]

So what is wrong with confiscating motorbikes?

[Rorri]

Would make more sense if they used them on convicted, and sentenced police and Hi So scum, who are out on bail.