With 86 percent of Pattaya’s closed-circuit television cameras now broken, regional police have a launched a program to encourage private-business owners to install their own Internet-connected security cameras to improve crime monitoring in the city.
Dubbed “Miracle Eyes,” the program announced April 8 by Chonburi Provincial Police and the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau will see Internet service providers sell camera systems costing between 12,500 and 19,500 baht to homeowners, jewelry shops, banks and other businesses eager to close the security hole created by the breakdown on Pattaya’s city-owned CCTV network.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Dr. Adul Narongsak is offering to expand Bangkok’s fledgling Miracle Eyes program to Pattaya.
Pattaya Police Superintendent Col. Supachai Puikaewkam revealed March 18 that 30 of Pattaya’s 35 closed-circuit television cameras are broken, leaving the city’s police force dependent on Family Marts, gold shops and condo buildings to capture images of crime scenes and traffic accidents. The police chief explained the sorry state of the city’s much-ballyhooed security system to Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Maj. Gen. Adul Narongsak during a recent inspection of the city.
Adul returned less than a month later to offer to expand Bangkok’s fledgling Miracle Eyes program to Pattaya, although the MPD has so far failed to make substantive progress on getting it off the ground in the capital.
Using Miracle Eyes systems, camera owners can press a button inside their business or on a smartphone to send address, telephone and location information to a police-dispatch center as well as capture photo and video footage of the scene. Police say that if the cameras catch images of crime suspects, the center will send descriptions to police units dispatched to the scene.
During a demonstration, police were dispatched to a model crime scene and officers arrived within five minutes. Installation, provided by True Corp.’s True Internet, TOT (Public) Co., and Jasmine International’s 3BB, was described as easy, with systems set up within 30 minutes.
Miracle Eyes was launched Sept. 12 in Bangkok with a goal to install 1 million cameras in the capital by 2015. So far, however, only “some” actually have been installed, the MPD said. There also is a goal to have 88 police stations receive Miracle Eyes data, but all crime reports currently are dispatched from a single center in Bangkok.
Police mentioned the possibility of opening a dispatch center in Pattaya, but said confirmation of such a facility would depend on how many business owners bought the cameras.
Pattaya business or home owners interested in purchasing a camera can contact Smart Tree Co. in Bangkok at 02-737-3338.
