Bangkok on track for a million 'eyes'
Phathinya Iamtan
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Bangkok's "Miracle Eyes" scheme to install one million closed-circuit-television (CCTV) cameras in three years is on track after Kasikorn Bank announced 60,000 CCTV cameras and high-quality software for its Bangkok branches this year.

Metropolitan Police deputy chief Pol Maj-General Adul Narongsak said yesterday that after media reports on Miracle Eyes, which aims to cut crime and improve public safety, many businesses had expressed interest in taking part.

Kasikorn Bank will on September 9 sign a contract with the Metropolitan Police Bureau, TOT and allies to become the latest supporter of Bangkok's bid to get public safety on a par with that of other regional cities ahead of the ASEAN Economic Community launch in 2015. As well as the 60,000 CCTV cameras across all Bangkok branches, the bank also aims to install another 300,000 cameras nationwide in future, said Adul, adding that this was a sign that all parties were committed to joining the police in boosting public safety.

TOT and allies also installed high-tech surveillance tools at the Traffic Police Division on Vibhavadi Road this week, while also hooking up software to link all 88 police stations to the division's fourth floor headquarters and the crime-watch centre at Thung Song Hong Police Station, Adul said.

Miracle Eyes was patented by police on March 14 following its launch last September, but it was refused a Bt35-million budget request. As a result, city police chief Pol Lt-General Camronwit Toopgrajank suggested the scheme be sponsored by the private sector, leading to the collaboration with TOT. Police and TOT signed a memorandum of understanding late last year, Adul explained.

Residents can also apply for the scheme at TOT offices across Bangkok. The software is designed to capture footage of crimes and alert police, who should then arrive at the scene within five minutes, Adul said.

Police will officially launch the scheme on November 5 and forecast the installation of 100,000 cameras in the first year. A target of 300,0000 more has been set for the second year, then another 600,000 cameras for the third year. Residents who join the scheme will pay a Bt200-Bt300 application fee then Bt500 a month to TOT in order to help finance the project, he added.

The camera software will be available in three packages - "small" for residential use; "medium" for petrol stations, banks and convenient stores; and "large" for universities and office buildings.


-- The Nation 2013-09-05

How many are actually connected,?

regards Worgeordie

CCTV doesn't bother me but I can see why people get upset.

It's particularly annoying when it conveniently "fails" depending on who is in the frame.

Now everyone can be a CCTV-star !

And it will give the BiBs something to watch on TV.

Someone, somewhere is going to make a HUGE amount of money from this scheme.

I just hope all the movies I saw don't turn out to be accurate predictions.

Guess someone has to say it - Thailand, CCTV Hub.

With one million units the odds are high that a bunch will have failed at any point in time or just stolen. Will be a constant battle to keep them and the infrastructure repaired, especially in Thailand. And how long before the ones who signed up at 500B/month will just 'forget' to pay the bills. Not sustainable from what I see.

And if they don't finish on time , they can fall back to the old Thai standby - clip on monitors, snap on, unconnected pcs, and paste up electrical outlets. Make it look first class.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by noitom

oh dear. The same old headlong rush into machines replacing people as in the developed world where so many are now unemployed, no jobs available.

What's wrong with a security guard at each branch? Why should a small camera be any better than a real person doing a real job?

Madness is not a western gene, it's a human gene bamboozled by technology.

Solve social inequality, then there'll be no bank robberies and the like. Oh, never mind, as you were.

What's wrong with a security guard at each branch? Why should a small camera be any better than a real person doing a real job?

A camera never falls asleep on duty

A camera never looks the other way

A camera has a perfect memory for faces

A camera can't be bribed.

A camera is cheaper than a security guard

I tried to bribe a camera once, the security guard stepped in and said "Here, give me the money, I will make sure Khun Camera gets it"

60000 CCTV cameras working in unison!!.....they have serious issues trying to get a simple Toll gate auto payment system working properly....

I think with the new TrueVisions channel lineup coming in a few days one of the channels will be linked to CCTV cameras on Khao San Road in Bangkok...the show will be titled "Watch a Farang."

It should be as or more popular than what the LinPing panada channel enjoyed for a while. Instead of watching a panda eat bamboo and scratch we'll be watching a farang tourist drink beer and scratch...don't laugh...it could be a hit reality show. Thailand: The Hub of CCTV Reality Shows.

Its getting more like the UK here everyday,Thailand is turning into a nanny state,

something I thought I had gotten away from ! next it will be human rights ,for killers.

rapists and pedeo s, whats happening to the World ?

regards Worgeordie

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by worgeordie

would it not be cheaper to place one

BIB at every beginning of a soi ? or every 500 m

and the businesses in their soi, they can get some ang pao every other week

I feel safer already, knowing that the highly efficient Thai police force are there, watching out for me. That Red bull guy, Phuket jet ski scammers, and officials on the take, must all be quacking in their boots, knowing that justice will find them out now that we have a million cameras watching us all.

We'll be able to see what Smokes and Blether really get up to in Bangkok now....

What's wrong with a security guard at each branch? Why should a small camera be any better than a real person doing a real job?

A camera never falls asleep on duty

A camera never looks the other way

A camera has a perfect memory for faces

A camera can't be bribed.

A camera is cheaper than a security guard

The data can be deleted though, it's those pesky humans again you see, they get everywhere.

CCTVs will not protect you being robbed, murdered, raped or whatever, they do not prevent any crime, people are going to commit their crimes with or without CCTVs around, it maybe helps catching a criminal but the expense to succes ratio is not that big as promised otherwise all jail must be overcrowed It is a business and it lowers insurance premiums as it satisfies the greed of any government to control their citizens.

What's wrong with a security guard at each branch? Why should a small camera be any better than a real person doing a real job?

A camera never falls asleep on duty

A camera never looks the other way

A camera has a perfect memory for faces

A camera can't be bribed.

A camera is cheaper than a security guard

And a camera does not need bribe to conveniently fail when needed.

What's wrong with a security guard at each branch? Why should a small camera be any better than a real person doing a real job?

A camera never falls asleep on duty

A camera never looks the other way

A camera has a perfect memory for faces

A camera can't be bribed.

A camera is cheaper than a security guard

The data can be deleted though, it's those pesky humans again you see, they get everywhere.

No system is perfect but IMHO it will be an improvement on eye witness statements photofit pictures

George Orwell must be sitting up in his grave and saying:

"Holy sh*t!! I predicted ""Big Brother"" would be watching in ""1984"", but One million eyes??? Hey Jules..you see how they've stolen all our ideas??"

What's wrong with a security guard at each branch? Why should a small camera be any better than a real person doing a real job?

A camera never falls asleep on duty

A camera never looks the other way

A camera has a perfect memory for faces

A camera can't be bribed.

A camera is cheaper than a security guard

A security camera should *supplement* the presence of security guard(s), not *replace* them. But, we'll see how this implementation actually plays out.

That reminds me a story ...... was driving on the toll way ...80km/h according to the rules .. police stopped me at the toll telling me the camera caught me at 126km/h ... I asked Show me .. he replied "oh we have CCTV to prove" then I said .. ok lets go and watch together at police station .... he said " ok you can go" ..... CCTV is not the answer to everything !

Kasikorn Bank needs 60,000 cameras? Just how many branches have they got in BKK?

How many are actually connected,?

regards Worgeordie

BMA have installed CCTV in our Moo Bahn. Since then our car was damaged by a driver who did not report it to us. I requested that they look on the CCTV tapes only to find that they are not actually connected to a power source. I complained to the head man and no action has been taken as yet. Two weeks later a taxi hit the head man's car and the CCTV is still not connected. In addition, the cameras seem deliberately installed pointing away from the cock fighting area nearby, which means that the cameras are not giving adequate coverage of our Moo Bahn.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by Estrada

That reminds me a story ...... was driving on the toll way ...80km/h according to the rules .. police stopped me at the toll telling me the camera caught me at 126km/h ... I asked Show me .. he replied "oh we have CCTV to prove" then I said .. ok lets go and watch together at police station .... he said " ok you can go" ..... CCTV is not the answer to everything !

Well it was for you that day. Not only can cameras catch the guilty out they can also exonerate the innocent.

The biggest issue here is storage. At a bitrate of 1 megabit per second, a million cameras would need a terabyte for every second of storage. A terabyte is about 1,500 baht right now. If you want to store 24 hours worth of data before it gets over-written, that means that for one day with 24 * 3600 = 86,400 seconds, you would need 86,400 * 1500 baht = 129,000,000 Baht just for storage, and that's assuming the media doesn't fail and need to be replaced. 35 million wouldn't even cover 6 hours, let alone the cameras, network, staffing and maintenance.

Now if we include the fact that the MTBF of most hard drive is 5 years, that means that after 5 years half of the drives would have failed. 129 million / 2 = 64.5 million baht every 5 years to maintain the system, or 12.9 million per year annualized. I don't think they want to spend a third of the entire budget every year just maintaining one component of the system. Private sector or not.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by BudRight

As the New World Order spreads it's technological antennae into Thailand.....

CCTVs are a perfect idea, they have reduced crime in London to zero. Meanwhile, police don't need to walk the streets anymore because they are so safe and the companies that make and install the cameras get rich from the tax payers!

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by Time Traveller