Pracha Asawathira, Manager of the DEPA office in Phuket, has presented the plan to Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong, reports ManagerOnline. (See story here.)
However, the story, posted yesterday (May 22), did not define when the plan was presented. The plan has yet to be reported by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department.
“We want to support the lifeguards in their work, which will provide safety to tourists,” Mr Pracha said.
“Plus we want to show the press that we are confident that Phuket is ready to be a ‘Smart City’, now that we have Wi-Fi hotspots installed at 1,000 points, which we announced last month,” Mr Pracha expounded.
“CCTV cameras will support lifeguards to be more effective in their work, especially while there are not enough lifeguards to take care of all the tourists,” he added.
Apparently a “special program” will allow the CCTV cameras to identify when swimmers are no longer in the designated safe swimming zones, and send direct alerts to a mobile phone via an application, Mr Pracha explained.
“DEPA presented this project to Governor Norraphat Plodthong. I think 40 cameras are worth about B140 million to be installed on 13 beaches. If we get the budget, then it will take about four months to install.
“Now we have installed a CCTV camera at Patong Beach for testing. It will be used soon,” Mr Pracha said.
“If this project is not approved, I will present it to local administration organisation (OrBorTor and municipalities).
“I am confident in this CCTV project. It will definitely improve Phuket’s tourism image, and especially boost tourists’ confidence in the safety of their lives,” Mr Pracha added.