Police plan to spend more than 100 million baht to install 1,500 closed-circuit and red-light cameras next year to keep a closer eye on traffic scofflaws.
Traffic whizzes through the Asok intersection in Bnagkok. (Bangkok Post photo)
Pol Maj Gen Adul Narongsak, a deputy metropolitan police chief, said the cameras will be installed at around 300 intersections in Bangkok in an attempt for bring more order to the capital's traffic chaos.
The cameras would be installed under lease contracts of three to five years. Images taken from the cameras will be sent to the main traffic-control centre.
He said the new red-light cameras will also have radar guns to detect whether vehicles sped up to beat the light or just cruised through the signal with the regular flow of traffic.
Pol Maj Gen Adul said the cameras, expected to go into use next year, will help reduce the burden on traffic police and curtail confrontations between officers and motorists.
Traffic police also are preparing a system under which motorists can pay fines and traffic tickets at convenience stores and banks, instead of paying at a police station and other officials points, as currently is required.