PHUKET: Visitors to Phuket are being urged to be more safe with new signs outside 10 7-Eleven stores in Kata-Karon the first to advise how to contact police.
With notices in English, Russian, Korean and Chinese, the signs urge people to contact police if they encounter trouble.
''If you were a victim of snatching, robbery or theft while in KATA-KARON, please, report the incident to Karon police station (Tel: 076-396393) or any 7-Eleven grocery stores in KATA - KARON
with love and care from Karon Police Station.''
The Deputy Commander of Police on Phuket, Major-General Peerayut Karajedee, says he believes there are more than 350 7-Eleven stores on Phuket.
In a separate meeting aimed at driving more complete coverage via security cameras across Phuket, the deputy commander met with Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation President Paiboon Upatising and other officials at Phuket Provincial Hall in Phuket City.
Major General Peerayut said that Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong and Phuket Police Commander Major General Patchara Boonyasit agreed that Phuket needed more security cameras.
The murders on Koh Tao of two British tourists were another illustration of the need for security camera coverage, along with their use in tracking the movement of a recent armed 7-Eleven bandit on Phuket.
He said he had three wish lists drawn up, one for top-quality cameras worth 289 million baht, another for a budget of 89 million baht and a third for just 29 million baht.
But the difficulty was in finding the support to buy the cameras, he said. Privately owned security cameras were already an integral part of the network.
Tourism and Sport has recently been granted a budget of 188 million for installation of security cameras nationwide, with 45 million baht designated for Phuket, the meeting was told.
The focus would be strong on two areas - Patong, Kata and Karon on the island's west coast, and central Phuket City and Old Phuket Town.
However, Kiat Aeksip, the PPAO adviser on security cameras, said he believed more help was needed from the Phuket Electricity Authority - many of the cameras installed around the island were quickly rendered useless by power surges.
The PPAO maintained its cameras well, he said.
Vice Governor Jamleran Tipayapongtadav, who chaired the meeting, said he would also like to see more cameras at Phuket's beaches.
The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation has one of the island's best security camera systems and Khun Paiboon was due to show off the control rooms at the PPAO Hospital and Phuket City Police HQ later today.
With notices in English, Russian, Korean and Chinese, the signs urge people to contact police if they encounter trouble.
''If you were a victim of snatching, robbery or theft while in KATA-KARON, please, report the incident to Karon police station (Tel: 076-396393) or any 7-Eleven grocery stores in KATA - KARON
with love and care from Karon Police Station.''
The Deputy Commander of Police on Phuket, Major-General Peerayut Karajedee, says he believes there are more than 350 7-Eleven stores on Phuket.
In a separate meeting aimed at driving more complete coverage via security cameras across Phuket, the deputy commander met with Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation President Paiboon Upatising and other officials at Phuket Provincial Hall in Phuket City.
Major General Peerayut said that Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong and Phuket Police Commander Major General Patchara Boonyasit agreed that Phuket needed more security cameras.
The murders on Koh Tao of two British tourists were another illustration of the need for security camera coverage, along with their use in tracking the movement of a recent armed 7-Eleven bandit on Phuket.
He said he had three wish lists drawn up, one for top-quality cameras worth 289 million baht, another for a budget of 89 million baht and a third for just 29 million baht.
But the difficulty was in finding the support to buy the cameras, he said. Privately owned security cameras were already an integral part of the network.
Tourism and Sport has recently been granted a budget of 188 million for installation of security cameras nationwide, with 45 million baht designated for Phuket, the meeting was told.
The focus would be strong on two areas - Patong, Kata and Karon on the island's west coast, and central Phuket City and Old Phuket Town.
However, Kiat Aeksip, the PPAO adviser on security cameras, said he believed more help was needed from the Phuket Electricity Authority - many of the cameras installed around the island were quickly rendered useless by power surges.
The PPAO maintained its cameras well, he said.
Vice Governor Jamleran Tipayapongtadav, who chaired the meeting, said he would also like to see more cameras at Phuket's beaches.
The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation has one of the island's best security camera systems and Khun Paiboon was due to show off the control rooms at the PPAO Hospital and Phuket City Police HQ later today.
Ahhhh- the money pit of more CCTV cameras. The average time for a camera to be effectively monitored without an operator losing interest is 20 minutes. As K Kiat rightly points out the cameras deteriorate very quickly and act as little deterrent to crime.
It's a nice little earner for those providing the cameras and useful on occasion after the fact but how many times when they were needed have we heard 'the camera wasn't working'?
More money needs to be spent improving maintenance of the existing system as opposed to spending money on new systems.
I was often asked by people to have their systems increased but when presented with 'what are you trying to achieve, who will man the cameras, what sort of resolution do you require', etc they soon saw the light and turned to more proactive solutions.
More police on the ground (and patrolling instead of sitting around in bars and noodle shops) is far more effective than eyes in the sky and we are still waiting for the extra 700 police officers promised to the island in Sep 2013. The movement of the Regional HQ to Phuket will have little effect on police numbers as the staff there are not actively involved on the ground
Posted by Mister Ree on October 15, 2014 19:10
Editor Comment:
I had no idea that your relationship with the police was so cosy that you know what Region 8 chiefs are thinking, MR. Certainly, it would be useful to have trainees checking vehicles coming onto Phuket and involved in ''special projects.'' Security cameras help after the crime has been committed. Nobody who commits a crime is deterred by them, and it's difficult to survey those who didn't go ahead because of the cameras.