Hyperlocal crime
reporting in Bangkok
Police doing it, will citizen
journalists do it too?
By Jon Fernquest 
Hyperlocal news is a hot technology topic
nowadays.The basic idea is to harness the self-publishing power of the internet (as found in blogs and Twitter for example) to find out from other people in your neighborhood what is happening in your neighborhood.
What could be more logical than fellow citizens helping and looking out for each other.
"Citizen journalism" is the name that has been given to this new form of grassroots journalism.
Jor Sor 100 radio was probably the first form of citizen journalism found in Thailand way back in 1991 (Read academic paper and listen to radio online)
Hyperlocal crime reporting ties crimes to individual neighborhoods, streets, and even apartments (See Everyblock Chicago hyperlocal crime site and article).
Today's article covers the hyperlocal crime reporting efforts of the Thai police.
The newspaper business is still relatively healthy in Thailand but newspapers are planning for a web-based future (Read article on largest Thai newspaper Thai Rath).
Will web-based hyperlocal crime reporting be part of the future of Thai newspapers?
Today's article begins after the vocabulary:
hyperlocal news -
news created by people who live in a small community created for other
people who live in that small community (See Wikipedia)
harness power - control and use the power of something (example: harness the power of the river to make electricity)
self-publishing - publishing or a book or article by the person who wrote it (author) (See Wikipedia)
blogs, webblogs - a website with regular even daily entries made by a person about their interests and experiences (See Wikipedia)
Twitter - a service where people inform their online friends about what they are doing or thinking, one form of social networking (See Wikipedia)
social networking - computer systems that link people together into communities of shared interest (See Wikipedia)
neighborhood - a local area where people live in a town or city, a community
citizen - a person who is legally accepted as belonging to a country, and therefore has legal rights and responsibilities (See Wikipedia)
fellow citizens - people who belong to the same country as you (example: fellow Chinese citizens)
citizen journalism - when non-journalit members of the public playing an active role in creating news ("collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information") (See Wikipedia and list of sites in the US)
grassroots – involving the ordinary people rather than their leaders ในระดับรากหญ้า, ชาวบ้าน
Jor Sor 100 - Bangkok radio station known for traffic reports and also for developing a network of people who help each other with their problems (Read academic paper and listen to radio online)
harness power - control and use the power of something (example: harness the power of the river to make electricity)
self-publishing - publishing or a book or article by the person who wrote it (author) (See Wikipedia)
blogs, webblogs - a website with regular even daily entries made by a person about their interests and experiences (See Wikipedia)
Twitter - a service where people inform their online friends about what they are doing or thinking, one form of social networking (See Wikipedia)
social networking - computer systems that link people together into communities of shared interest (See Wikipedia)
neighborhood - a local area where people live in a town or city, a community
citizen - a person who is legally accepted as belonging to a country, and therefore has legal rights and responsibilities (See Wikipedia)
fellow citizens - people who belong to the same country as you (example: fellow Chinese citizens)
citizen journalism - when non-journalit members of the public playing an active role in creating news ("collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information") (See Wikipedia and list of sites in the US)
grassroots – involving the ordinary people rather than their leaders ในระดับรากหญ้า, ชาวบ้าน
Jor Sor 100 - Bangkok radio station known for traffic reports and also for developing a network of people who help each other with their problems (Read academic paper and listen to radio online)
Shining light on dark places
City has 5,365 high-risk crime spots7/12/2009
Wassayos Ngamkham
Bangkok has more than 5,000 risk areas where the potential for crime is high, a police survey has found.
The city's police stations were asked to identify risk areas after police realised the death of a 28-year-old hotel worker in bushes behind a bus stop in Hua Mark could have been prevented.
high-risk crime spots,
crime-risk spots - places where crime
happens a lot
potential - possible or likely for event or situation to happen
potential for crime - places where crime likely happens
identify - find, locate
risk - danger, how likely or possible it is for a bad event that causes harm and damage ความเสี่ยง
identify risk areas -find areas with risk (danger of crime)
potential - possible or likely for event or situation to happen
potential for crime - places where crime likely happens
identify - find, locate
risk - danger, how likely or possible it is for a bad event that causes harm and damage ความเสี่ยง
identify risk areas -find areas with risk (danger of crime)
Hua Mark emerges as one of the areas where the risk of crime is high.
Sasiprapha Wingworn, from Chiang Rai, was raped and killed early on Oct 1 when a man dragged her into bushes behind a bus stop opposite Wat Sribunruang near Soi Ramkhamhaeng 64.
Suspect Suwit Bunpairot, 24, was arrested at the scene.
Police believe the bushes gave Sasiprapha's killer the cover he needed to carry out the crime. If the area had been cleared of bush, the crime might not have occurred.
bus stop - a place
where buses officially stop
gave cover - hide so people cannot see him
gave cover - hide so people cannot see him
Pongsapat Pongcharoen, assistant police chief and police spokesman, ordered the 88 metropolitan police stations in Bangkok to identify the city's crime-risk spots to see what police could do to alleviate the risk.
"We found there are 5,365 risk spots throughout Bangkok. Many risk spots, or 2,155 spots, are in dormitories, apartments and houses. Another 1,164 spots are around bus stops. And another 1,008 spots are along small lanes," Pol Lt-Gen Pongsapat said.
crime-risk spots - places where crime
happens a lot
alleviate - make better, make a bad situation better
alleviate the risk - reduce the risk
dormitories - large buildings where many students live together while going to school or university
small lanes - sois, small narrow side streets
alleviate - make better, make a bad situation better
alleviate the risk - reduce the risk
dormitories - large buildings where many students live together while going to school or university
small lanes - sois, small narrow side streets
The area under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Police Division 5 has the highest number of risk spots - 1,570, mostly in business districts under the jurisdiction of Lumpini, Thong Lor, Thung Mahamek and Khlong Tan police stations.
They were followed by areas under Metropolitan Police Division 2 (930 spots under the jurisdiction of Don Muang, Sai Mai, Khan Na Yao and Pracha Chuen police stations), Metropolitan Police Division 8 (814 spots in Thon Buri under the jurisdiction of Bukkhalo, Bang Yi Rua, Talat Phlu and Rat Burana police stations), and Metropolitan Police Division 9 (251 spots under the jurisdiction of Nong Khaem, Phetkasem, Tha Kham and Phasi Charoen police stations).
The most dangerous spots were Soi Lat Phrao 101 and Soi Lat Phrao 107 under the jurisdiction of Lat Phrao police station, and Soi Supapong under the ambit of Phra Khanong police station.
jurisdiction - the
power and authority within an area to enforce laws
metropolitan - in a large city (like Bangkok)
division - one part of a large organisation
under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Police Division 5 - within the authority of the Bangkok police Division 5
under the ambit of - within the range of
metropolitan - in a large city (like Bangkok)
division - one part of a large organisation
under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Police Division 5 - within the authority of the Bangkok police Division 5
under the ambit of - within the range of
After the survey results came in, police contacted the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), which has now agreed to work with police to tidy up the areas.
A joint project has been launched at 10 spots identified as the most dangerous.
At these spots, the agencies agreed to increase the frequency of patrols by police and BMA officials.
The BMA also agreed to improve the street environment by installing street lights and clearing overgrown shrubs and trees to get rid of blind spots. The BMA will also install more surveillance cameras.
survey - gathering
information about what people think about different subjects (public
opionion) by asking large numbers of people questions and counting
their answers, and then using statistics, graphs, and tables to present
results (See Wikipedia)
public opinion - the beliefs and opinions of large numbers of people in a society (See Wikipedia)
survey results - what the survey finds out about public opinion
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) - the official name for the government of Bangkok (See Wikipedia) การบริหารราชการกรุงเทพมหานคร
tidy up - making a place neat and clean
joint project - project belonging to two or more organisations
patrols - when police or soldiers move around an area to make sure there are no problems
frequency of patrols - how often patrols happen (example: once per hour)
shrubs - bushes, big green plants with a lot of leaves, smaller than a tree (See Wikipedia)
overgrown shrubs - shrubs that have not been cut , that have grown all over the place
clearing overgrown shrubs - removing overgrown shrubs
blind spots - places where that people cannot see (example: the blind spot behind a driver in car that he or she cannot see while driving)
get rid of - remove, eliminate
get rid of blind spots - remove places where people can't
public opinion - the beliefs and opinions of large numbers of people in a society (See Wikipedia)
survey results - what the survey finds out about public opinion
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) - the official name for the government of Bangkok (See Wikipedia) การบริหารราชการกรุงเทพมหานคร
tidy up - making a place neat and clean
joint project - project belonging to two or more organisations
patrols - when police or soldiers move around an area to make sure there are no problems
frequency of patrols - how often patrols happen (example: once per hour)
shrubs - bushes, big green plants with a lot of leaves, smaller than a tree (See Wikipedia)
overgrown shrubs - shrubs that have not been cut , that have grown all over the place
clearing overgrown shrubs - removing overgrown shrubs
blind spots - places where that people cannot see (example: the blind spot behind a driver in car that he or she cannot see while driving)
get rid of - remove, eliminate
get rid of blind spots - remove places where people can't
Contact Crime Track: crimetrack@bangkokpost.co.th
(Source: Shining light on dark places, City has 5,365 high-risk crime spots, 7/12/2009, Wassayos Ngamkham, link)
