Bangkok police recently tested out X-ray vans that can scan cars for weapons or drugs in the entertainment zones of Ratchada Road.
The vehicles can scan cars within five feet – either while driving by or while parked and letting cars pass. The rays scatter back to a detector in the van and a full picture of the interior of a scanned car is shown, just like a medical X-ray. Police in the van then radio checkpoint teams to make arrests if they see illegal contraband. Unfortunately, police found that the X-rays on four test vans stopped functioning well after two or three hours of use because of the heat, Channel 3 reported.
Deputy Commissioner General of Royal Thai Police Pol. Gen. Ekworrapong Chiwwareaprecha said that police want to use technology and optimize vehicle searches to combat a rising wave of crime and violence. Police plan to use the X-ray trucks at borders and in Bangkok entertainment zones, he said. He told Channel 7 that they hadn’t made any arrests yet on the first night of testing the X-ray technology, but that was probably due to the fact that they had given advance notice about the checkpoints and drug dealers and gun carriers had changed their routes.
Police are launching a new campaign to crack down on citizens carrying guns in public with punishments of up to five years in jail and a THB10,000 fine.
