Pattaya Police Use AI to Reduce Crime and Improve Patrols
The Thai Parliament Police Committee visited Pattaya this week to learn from its police officers and police station how Pattaya utilizes both civilian oversight and its AI technology to help stop crime.
Civilian Oversight and Police Resources
This visit took place two days ago when members of Parliament came to the city to conduct a field visit to examine ways to elevate the role and authority of what they call the Police Administration Inspection and Monitoring Committee, known for short as KTTR, or in basic layman speak, a civilian oversight committee, which has been in place here for some time. The visit, which included the vice chairman of the House of Representatives Police Committee, led their delegation to the Pattaya Police Station, which of course included Miss Amporn Kaewsang, the chairperson of the Muang Pattaya KTTR, again, a civilian oversight committee.
This visit was basically to study both what works and what doesn’t, and to hopefully eventually roll out similar civilian oversight nationwide. They also spoke about the city’s AI technology, which is also hoping to become basically a landmark to be used in other provinces and areas, especially tourist areas nationwide.
Police form the critical starting point of the justice system before cases proceed to prosecutors, courts, and correctional agencies, and officers currently face constraints in manpower, investigating officers, housing, equipment, and other resources, and the KTTR civilian oversight helps support and alleviate these issues. According to Miss Amporn Kaewsang, she said that all members of the KTTR locally undergo appropriate screening and are motivated by a spirit of sacrifice and a commitment to the public good.
Pattaya Uses AI for Crime Analysis
Now, according to the police chief, the station has innovative approaches to security and crime prevention using data and technology to reduce opportunities for crime and deploy patrols more effectively. Previously, officers relied on what they called a crime clock, which we talked about a few years ago for statistics, but that system had limitations in providing an overall picture or enabling efficient historical comparisons.
The station has since upgraded from a digital crime clock to a web application for crime analysis, which collects incident data, displays statistics, analyzes trends, and informs checkpoint placement and patrol planning. Officers can report incidents via voice input through the web app, and AI actually categorizes this information for analysis and prevention planning. It also allows commanders to set checkpoints and direct patrols to high-risk areas. One that was particularly called out during the meeting, which we’ve covered a lot recently, is the Jomtien Soi 2 and Soi 3 area and long-standing drug problems.
Officers also log into the system before duty with check-in and check-out features that include real-time photos, enabling supervisors to verify presence and evaluate performance. According to the police chief, this helps them in such a busy city like Pattaya to use limited police resources as well as AI technology to basically help alleviate problems and identify more problem areas.
Crime Results and AI Cameras in Pattaya
Results show significant improvements. Police have stated, and this is some information that many of you will want to hear because they generally don’t release statistics in public, that the city, despite some large viral stories, some of which you’ve seen here, is actually safer than ever, according to them. Assault and theft cases have nearly halved in Pattaya, and motorcycle thefts have also dropped dramatically. Although crime cannot be eliminated entirely, data-driven prevention that reduces opportunities has lowered trends overall.
The station is also developing systems to address missing persons and at-risk individuals, with plans to link databases to AI smart cameras in the area for better tracking and future prevention. Those of you who have watched us for some time, you probably heard us talk about the AI cameras in the city. Now, the city has thousands of CCTV cameras, but not all are AI-enabled, and they generally don’t release where every AI camera is because of security concerns. But many of them are in popular tourism areas like Walking Street and on Pattaya Beach Road. This AI helps identify people that may be wanted, and it also helps identify overstayers, and they’ve caught quite a few utilizing the cameras. It also can be used very quickly to search for wanted offenders, to follow motorbikes and vehicles with license plate searches, etc.
