Abhisit invites city governor to discuss 'dodgy' CCTV cameras
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- DEMOCRAT Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva plans to meet with Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra in response to criticism that security cameras purchased by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration are of poor quality and many are out of order.

He did not reveal the date of the meeting but said the governor had returned from a trip to Malaysia.

Watchara Petchthong, a former Democrat MP, said the cameras could not improve safety - pointing to what he claimed was the theft of Bt3 million in valuables from a house in Bangkok and the potential failure of closed-circuit television cameras in the area to record the perpetrator(s) because they were not working.

He called on the BMA to reveal the contract details for the purchase of the cameras to see if there was corruption involved.

Abhisit said: "I've talked to Watchara about the matter. It is simply their [the party's] duty to conduct an examination when people file complaints, not have conflict inside the party."

Sukhumbhand represented the Democrat Party when he won the gubernatorial election for Bangkok in 2009. Bangkok has been a key Democrat Party political base for a long time.

Sukhumbhand has not yet responded to the calls for him to examine the purchase of the cameras but his team held a press conference that angered Watchara.

Senior BMA officials claimed that Watchara had politicised the matter, an accusation he denied.

He said the BMA had yet to reply to a letter in which he asked for the purchase contracts for the cameras.

If the governor considers himself a party member, he should be aware that the party would be affected by the matter, he said.

Watchara said the BMA planned to install 100,000 new security cameras in Bangkok with a budget of Bt40 billion and about 50,000 had been installed.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Abhisit-invites-city-governor-to-discuss-dodgy-CCT-30271488.html

-- The Nation 2015-10-24

Wow I have yet to see PTP comment on alleged corruption of an other PTP member. Seems the Democrats are of far higher moral grounds going after corruption even in their own ranks. If it is corruption and it certainly looks this way Sukhumband should be prosecuted and leave his job

Everything purchased by the government in Thailand has a degree of corruption in it......

When values such as Thb 40 Billion are involved......that's just too much money for them to be able to manage.........much of this sum would have already been skimmed!

Mark will no doubt reveal that everything is accountable and above board.

Edited October 24, 201510 yr by ChrisY1

nice little earner

These numbers seem crazy. 100,000 state run security cameras for only Bangkok. And with 40 billion bahy put towards it it still equates to 400,000 baht per camera, which even with install and extras is absolutely insane.

With this kind of money swishing around it's hardly going to take long for the usual vultures to start to circle around there. And with rumours of dodgy CCTV rife it certainly seems like the vultures got a free lunch of sorts

'' Now then Sukhumbhand remember, you know nothing, right, noooooothing and you have never met me''

Watched PM's Friday night talk last night. He kept on emphasizing "transparency (have we seen any?) and accountability". I am confident the PM will stand shoulder to shoulder with Abhisit on this one.

Wow I have yet to see PTP comment on alleged corruption of an other PTP member. Seems the Democrats are of far higher moral grounds going after corruption even in their own ranks. If it is corruption and it certainly looks this way Sukhumband should be prosecuted and leave his job

Abhisit hates Sukhumband and wanted to find a different candidate last time........Just he failed inside the Democrats....

When the coalition partner of Abhisits government filled their pockets without any shame, he didn't say one word. He doesn't say any word against corruption the current government.

Abhisit is actually a kind of male version of Yingluck and a coward. The Democrats should really replace him with someone different.

"...He called on the BMA to reveal the contract details for the purchase of the cameras to see if there was corruption involved..."

Are you serious? The details of this CCTV contract are not accessible by the public or at least government officials to oversee the process for corruption. These are the kind of laws that need to be written to help prevent corruption. Wake up Thai government if you are serious about stopping corruption...wake the hell up.

Edited October 24, 201510 yr by oneday

These numbers seem crazy. 100,000 state run security cameras for only Bangkok. And with 40 billion bahy put towards it it still equates to 400,000 baht per camera, which even with install and extras is absolutely insane.

With this kind of money swishing around it's hardly going to take long for the usual vultures to start to circle around there. And with rumours of dodgy CCTV rife it certainly seems like the vultures got a free lunch of sorts

Wowww - looks like the crocks hit the motherload again! Put them in jail and confiscate all their assets, if any sign of corruption can be proved!

These numbers seem crazy. 100,000 state run security cameras for only Bangkok. And with 40 billion bahy put towards it it still equates to 400,000 baht per camera, which even with install and extras is absolutely insane.

With this kind of money swishing around it's hardly going to take long for the usual vultures to start to circle around there. And with rumours of dodgy CCTV rife it certainly seems like the vultures got a free lunch of sorts

Wowww - looks like the crocks hit the motherload again! Put them in jail and confiscate all their assets, if any sign of corruption can be proved!

That will never happen in Thailand.

400.000 is still way too much but not as dramatic as it seems:

Camera

Installation

very long cables

lots of server, network equipment

screens, computer, software

storage solutions 100.000 video feeds day/night and not saved easily and it is a lot of data

backup solutions

staff training

service contracts.

For trsnsparency, the meeting will be recorded on CCTV.......

'Senior BMA officials claimed that Watchara had politicised the matter, an accusation he denied.' We are talking corruption, incompetence, cheap parts, poor quality, all qualities commonly associated with politicians. Is that what the BMA means by 'politicising'?

If they install the same type of camera as we saw for the Erawan then they are the wrong type for the job. Of course they wont understand that but the fact remains they are not suitable for the intended use

Governor Sukhumbhand needs to say only one thing to Abhisit:

"I'm still in office and you're not."

Governor Sukhumbhand needs to say only one thing to Abhisit:

"I'm still in office and you're not."

Or I got elected and you're not.....

anyone who has tried to do any business with the Thai Gov in the past knows that there has always been a "percentage" that needed to be added to the quotation to cover the cost of corruption to even come close to winning the deal.

For decades this amount was usually a standard 15%.

With the Yingluck administration this went up to a starting point of 30% to as much as 50%.

This is likely the reason that many cameras are just dummies or are poor quality. Same reason most of the BTS stations didn't have escalators etc etc etc.

The amount the Thai people have been robbed of is mind boggling.

I can't understand why they still think that corruption os ok as long as you can benefit from it, they never will.

anyone who has tried to do any business with the Thai Gov in the past knows that there has always been a "percentage" that needed to be added to the quotation to cover the cost of corruption to even come close to winning the deal.

For decades this amount was usually a standard 15%.

With the Yingluck administration this went up to a starting point of 30% to as much as 50%.

This is likely the reason that many cameras are just dummies or are poor quality. Same reason most of the BTS stations didn't have escalators etc etc etc.

The amount the Thai people have been robbed of is mind boggling.

I can't understand why they still think that corruption os ok as long as you can benefit from it, they never will.

Actually No....

It was for decades 10 % (friend built schools and hospitals).

Than with Thaksin it went up (but only partially, he more focused the corruption on his family and cracked down where he didn't get money) and it got more difficult. Often you didn't sell for government, you sold for a company which is owned by someone close to the government.

So you sell Printer and Computer to a company owned by???? can't recall someone Shinawatra clan.....This company sells for government at an absurd inflated price.....and win there was no corruption. As the company was a legit company, they may have something in the contract no one other can do....service 30 years for the printer (which doesn't matter if the company is getting closed tomorrow).

Abhisit didn't do anything and coalition partners were full scale corrupt...

With Yingluck the small one weren't scared anymore, the coalition partners had no limits and the Shinawatra clan took whatever they can get.

So yes it got worse with Yingluck, but it is system Thaksin and even the clean not corrupt take 10 %