Smart move: Phuket businesses provide Bt10 million for state-of-the-art checkpoint system
Phuket businesses have pooled Bt10 million to jump-start a “smart” checkpoint system to enhance the province’s Covid-19 prevention measures, hoping to get its economy back on the rails again as quickly as possible.
Police chief Pol Maj-General Rungroj Thakurpunyasiri presided over the donation ceremony, held at Tha Chatchai checkpoint in Thalang district today (May 12), to buy equipment for the cutting-edge checkpoint system.
“The smart checkpoint should help increase the efficiency in screening travellers and vehicles to prevent Covid-19 from spreading further,” he said. “The equipment costs around Bt10 million and this would have taken some time for the government to approve, so entrepreneurs in the province chipped in to jump-start the project.”
Contributors to the project are Kata Thani Group (Bt6 million), Central Group (Bt1 million), Kusol Tham Phuket Foundation (Bt1 million), Paradise Group and Andara Resort (Bt1 million) and the Phuket Police Administration Commission (Bt1 million).
“The smart checkpoint system can significantly reduce the time needed to scan each person/vehicle, hence eliminating congestion at checkpoints,” said Rungroj. “Users can perform a one-time registration via a mobile application to pass the checkpoints quickly every time they enter or exit the province, while the thermal and facial scanners will be synchronised with official databases to help authorities identify suspected patients or criminals who try to pass the checkpoint,” he said.
“We hope the system will serve as a stepping stone to the Phuket Smart City project in the future, as well as help the province overcome the Covid-19 crisis and get its economy back to normal as soon as possible,” Rungroj added.