BMA urged to avoid further video surveillance problems

Gren, who visited Bangkok recently, was referring to unimpressive performance of Bangkok’s surveillance cameras, which could not provide much help to police handling the case.
“One of the things that struck me as I read [reports] in the press is |that 80 per cent of the cameras installed for the city’s surveillance did not work or were not working properly.
“In addition, the traditional city surveillance system is often based on analog cameras, which provide very low-resolution images like the same resolution we had in flat TVs 10 years ago.
“We have replaced these flat TV screens with thin TV screens which have HD [high-definition] resolution. This is significantly better, as it gives you a better ability to watch what’s going on.
“The other problem is very basic. It’s the same way we walk on the streets and our clothes get dirty and we change clothes after a day or two.
“This is also true for surveillance cameras, as they get dirty. If you mount cameras on the Bangkok Skytrain, for example, after a year they will be dirty and have to be cleaned, because without cleaning you cannot see what you are watching.”
On the inability to recover video footage promptly, as it took Thai police several days to do so after the Erawan Shrine bombing, he said: “Analog cameras are typically connected to DVR or digital video recorders, which are usually not integrated into the centre of city surveillance. In this case, police probably had to go to each individual DVR to watch the footage.
“Another common problem in city surveillance is that cameras are simply broken or the cables are rusted and not working any more. Of course, the guards know about it but there is no procedure set up for them to call supervisors to send somebody to fix those broken cameras. This is also quite a common problem for large organisations.”
As the inventor of the world’s first network cameras back in 1996, Gren said the technology had shifted towards digital surveillance cameras with HD resolution, and the latest system featured loudspeakers that could scream at would-be thieves in real time to frighten them away from premises under surveillance.
Gren said the old-fashioned closed-circuit TV cameras were no longer effective in today’s surveillance system because not enough details could be seen in the footage.
For effective surveillance, full HD or 4K resolution is required along with an integrated system that includes procedures for maintenance of the cameras when they are broken or dirty.
In Thailand, Axis Communi-cations operates a manufacturing plant that supplies network cameras and related equipment to customers around the world.
Thongchai Watanasoponwong, Thailand country manager, who |is also responsible for Cambodia, Laos Myanmar and Vietnam, said the Thai market for surveillance |cameras alone was worth Bt3|billion per year, with the government, retail, banking, office and education sectors being the major customers.
“In Thailand, the government sector accounts for about 50 per cent of the total market, with the rest being private-sector customers as well as electricity authorities and hydropower dams.
“In Myanmar, we’re exploring business opportunities in the banking and telecom sectors, while in Vietnam we’re working with customers in government and commercial projects,” he said.
Worldwide, Axis Communi-cations’ sales revenue totalled US$750 million (Bt26.6 billion) last year.