Integrated nationwide CCTV network to be soon developed in Thailand

BANGKOK, March 14 (TNA) - The Thai government, mainly through the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, is developing an integrated nationwide close circuit television (CCTV) network, to enhance the country's security and peacekeeping systems. Defence Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Kongcheep Tantrawanit told journalists that Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan assigned the task to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society during a meeting of a government panel in charge of carrying out an integrated management plan of Thailand's CCTV system, held at Bangkok's Government House on March 13., The spokesman stated that General Prawit, who oversees national security, instructed the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to work out a plan on the development of an integrated nationwide CCTV network, under which data systems of all relevant public and private agencies are connected and pooled together, to be submitted to the National Security Council (NSC) for its further consideration and action over the next two months. The spokesman said the deputy premier initially suggested that a central integrated CCTV network be jointly established by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, the Ministry of Interior and the Royal Thai Police and overseen by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) in the capital, while its branch centers in all other Thai provinces will be supervised by their governors. According to the spokesman, the Thai deputy prime minister also ordered relevant government agencies to speed up their surveys of CCTV systems in their jurisdiction to ensure the proper functions of the systems and to install additional devices, if needed, to comply with the government's policy on preventing and cracking down untoward incidents with justice and transparency through the grounded evidence. The spokesman quoted the deputy prime minister as mentioning that there will be major events in Thailand in the coming months, including the new general election later this month, the Royal Coronation Ceremony and related events of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun and the ASEAN Summit 2019 and related forums and the proper functions of all CCTVs in the country are, thus, necessary. (TNA)