The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has pinpointed 145 areas near bus stops in Bangkok where people are most likely to be targeted by criminals, most of them in outer districts.
City Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said a report present to a meeting on Tuesday revealed 145 areas behind bus stops which are considered unsafe and prone to criminal activities, most of them in 40 outer districts.
Conversely, bus stops in ten inner districts were considered safe, he said.
The report was submitted to the city administration after MR Sukhumbhand ordered district chiefs to examine areas near bus stops to see if they are safe. The review was prompted by the rape and murder of a woman behind a bus stop in Bang Kapi district last week.
MR Sukhumbhand said he had ordered all districts to also examine abandoned buildings which may provide sanctuaries for criminals.
To help overcome this problem, the BMA will this year install 3,000 closed-circuit television cameras and lights at 5,000 lonely spots. The number of surveillance cameras will be increased to 20,000 and lights to 50,000 over four years, he said.
Owners of abandoned buildings will be askedto clean up their land or build a fence around it. If they did not cooperate, the BMA would act alone and then bill the landowners for the expense incurred.
MR Sukhumbhand said the BMA is pondering invoking Article 6 of the Land Act, which enable officials to seek a court order to seize a block of land left unused for more than 10 years. However, this would be the last resort.
Once the new land tax law is promulgated in the near future it would be strictly applied to unused land in the city, he said.
The Bangkok governor said the BMA will recruit a network of city protection volunteers comprising motorcycle and taxi drivers and security guards to inform city and police officials about criminal activities in their areas. The network would recruit 150,000-200,000 men and women.
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