BMA urged to avoid further video surveillance problems

BANGKOK: THE BANGKOK Metropolitan Administration should learn some lessons from the recent bombing of the Erawan Shrine that killed 20 people and injured more than 100, said Martin Gren, chairman and co-founder of Axis Communications, a Swedish manufacturer of network cameras.

Gren, who visited Bangkok recently, was referring to unimpressive performance of Bangkok's surveillance cameras, which could not provide much help to police handling the case.

"One of the things that struck me as I read [reports] in the press is |that 80 per cent of the cameras installed for the city's surveillance did not work or were not working properly.

"In addition, the traditional city surveillance system is often based on analog cameras, which provide very low-resolution images like the same resolution we had in flat TVs 10 years ago.

"We have replaced these flat TV screens with thin TV screens which have HD [high-definition] resolution. This is significantly better, as it gives you a better ability to watch what's going on.

"The other problem is very basic. It's the same way we walk on the streets and our clothes get dirty and we change clothes after a day or two.

"This is also true for surveillance cameras, as they get dirty. If you mount cameras on the Bangkok Skytrain, for example, after a year they will be dirty and have to be cleaned, because without cleaning you cannot see what you are watching."

On the inability to recover video footage promptly, as it took Thai police several days to do so after the Erawan Shrine bombing, he said: "Analog cameras are typically connected to DVR or digital video recorders, which are usually not integrated into the centre of city surveillance. In this case, police probably had to go to each individual DVR to watch the footage.

"Another common problem in city surveillance is that cameras are simply broken or the cables are rusted and not working any more. Of course, the guards know about it but there is no procedure set up for them to call supervisors to send somebody to fix those broken cameras. This is also quite a common problem for large organisations."

As the inventor of the world's first network cameras back in 1996, Gren said the technology had shifted towards digital surveillance cameras with HD resolution, and the latest system featured loudspeakers that could scream at would-be thieves in real time to frighten them away from premises under surveillance.

Gren said the old-fashioned closed-circuit TV cameras were no longer effective in today's surveillance system because not enough details could be seen in the footage.

For effective surveillance, full HD or 4K resolution is required along with an integrated system that includes procedures for maintenance of the cameras when they are broken or dirty.

In Thailand, Axis Communi-cations operates a manufacturing plant that supplies network cameras and related equipment to customers around the world.

Thongchai Watanasoponwong, Thailand country manager, who |is also responsible for Cambodia, Laos Myanmar and Vietnam, said the Thai market for surveillance |cameras alone was worth Bt3|billion per year, with the government, retail, banking, office and education sectors being the major customers.

"In Thailand, the government sector accounts for about 50 per cent of the total market, with the rest being private-sector customers as well as electricity authorities and hydropower dams.

"In Myanmar, we're exploring business opportunities in the banking and telecom sectors, while in Vietnam we're working with customers in government and commercial projects," he said.

Worldwide, Axis Communi-cations' sales revenue totalled US$750 million (Bt26.6 billion) last year.

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/BMA-urged-to-avoid-further-video-surveillance-prob-30272456.html

-- The Nation 2015-11-07

"...the traditional city surveillance system is often based on analog cameras, which provide very low-resolution images like the same resolution we had in flat TVs 10 years ago..."

This is all very easily understandable once you figure in hypothetical standard corruption practices. Government officials probably paid prices for equivalent HD integrated, digital video systems which would be quickly and easily accessible over a network, but then the whole system was probably swapped out with low resolution, low quality antiquated technology with no intention of ever maintaining the system. This was all done, in all likelihood, so all the extra money could be pocketed.

Anyone who has lived here long enough knows infra-structure, in general, has no scheduled maintenance built-in. Projects are allowed to deteriorate and if they are ever fixed they just let a new contract to rebuild it. More opportunities for extra money.

"Urged" "mulled over" "considered" and being "contemplated" are the government's new watch words for "not being done", "delayed" and "shelved".

"...without cleaning you cannot see what you are watching."

Was he talking about the administration itself?

What a big, fat plug for Axis. One can only wonder what the newspaper concerned hopes to gain in return for publishing this disgraceful advertorial masquerading as news.

The real question the Press should be posing is whether the government is justified in lashing out yet more billions of taxpayer money to keep the Mr Grens of this world in clover, but whether such mass public surveillance is morally and/or financially justified.

It would be illuminating to learn how much has been, and is being, invested from the public purse for CCTV systems and to see a breakdown of exactly where the money goes and whether the results justify the price-tag.

Apart from any other consideration, a huge army of people must be employed simply to monitor and sift through the endless reams of video footage churned out by the cameras, many of which are dysfunctional because of poor design or lack of maintenance.

Just how much crime, one wonders, is actually prevented and how many criminals apprehended and convicted in relation to the outlay?

The relatively few success stories one reads in this regard make big headlines, so it is pretty safe to assume not many. The vast majority of captured video footage consists of masses of ordinary citizens going about their lawful business - often totally unaware that some stranger somewhere is monitoring their every move.

I, for one, am highly suspicious of this entire operation and the motives of those behind it.

Wall-to-wall CCTV cameras and the relentless roll-out of Big Brother spy systems here and elsewhere show how brainwashed we have become into believing the state will keep us safe and secure in return for sacrificing our privacy and individual freedom.

Nothing, as history so vividly proves, could be further from the truth.

An excellent post by "oneday" which says it all

Thailand: The Hub of Obsolete Technology

Hardly a promotion for wanting to be the center of e-commerce for ASEAN.