City Hall has come up with the idea of installing a close-circuit television (CCTV) system in public areas throughout Bangkok to help protect communities and prevent crimes, but residents have questioned the effectiveness of the tool.
The installation of CCTV cameras in public areas was one of the top policies announced by governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra during the 2013 Bangkok governor election campaign.
This three-camera CCTV setup under a bridge is typical of many areas in Bangkok in the past couple of years. City Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra is on track to almost double the number of cameras to 47,000 within a year. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
Thong Lor police, however, claim the availability of this surveillance technology has curbed street crimes through detection in their jurisdiction, citing the arrests of six suspects in the last month.
Pol Col Chootakul Yodmadee, superintendent of Thong Lor police station, said the rate of street crimes in his jurisdiction has been going up over the past years, though he did not go into details about the criminal statistics in each year. He simply said in October alone, there were almost 100 offences.
Pol Col Chootakul claims many arrests of suspects who had committed street crimes were attributable to the CCTV system.
Street crime in the Thong Lor area, he said, mostly takes place between 7am to 3pm. Offenders often use motorcycles as getaway vehicles.
Thong Lor is one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in terms of street crime because it is located in Bangkok's central business area and has attracted the attention of foreign investors, tourists and elites alike.
And this busy shopping and entertainment district can create an environment that is conducive to crimes. The presence of valuable items means robbery can be profitable. South Koreans were the most likely among foreigners to fall victim to street crime, police said.
Pol Col Chootakul said all crimes require an opportunity, and particular lifestyles and activities may create these opportunities for offenders.
He said criminals often choose targets based on gaining the highest reward by expending the least amount of effort. And in Thong Lor, there are plenty of vulnerable targets.
For instance, women's purses have been often snatched when women are walking on the street and talking on the phone. The most challenging task, he said, may be theft cases because many victims do not recall the moment when the crime is committed.
Pol Col Chootakul said most street crime in Thong Lor is committed by young people between the ages of 15-25. Many of them who have been arrested and charged by the authorities have lived in nearby communities in Phaya Thai and Phra Khanong districts.
According to a source from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the BMA has now finished installing 27,000 new CCTV cameras throughout the city, and it is expected to install about 20,000 more CCTV cameras by the end of next year as part of measures to help protect Bangkokians against crime. The cameras were installed in high-risk areas, with links to police stations and district offices.
Pol Col Chootakul is satisfied with the installation of more CCTV cameras by the BMA because he believes this will help police monitor the footage in a bid to catch perpetrators after they committed crimes.
He said Thong Lor police take advantage of footage captured on the CCTV to track down numbers on the suspects' license plates and use these as clues to find who owns the vehicles and who was present when a crime was committed.
Police admitted they face challenges because some fake cameras have been installed in some areas. The devices — both active and dummy ones — had been installed around bus stops, flyovers and in the downtown area.
Contact Crime Track: