Maps available to government agencies to lift levels of service
The Land Development Department will provide its Colour Autophoto Maps at scales between 1:4000 and 1:25,000 by the end of this year.
Chaiwat Sittibush, director-general of the department, said it had completed Color Autophoto Maps nationwide except for three provinces in the South. In the initial stage, the department will provide government agencies such as the Education Ministry, Natural Resource and Resources Ministry, Interior Ministry and Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry with 1:4000 maps, covering 513,889 square kilometres with an accuracy of 95 per cent. He said the maps had an important role in national development since government agencies could consult them to improve service. Users can monitor traffic, land use, public areas, agricultural activities, forest resources, forest fires, flood risks, disasters, coastal zones and national security. He said the maps would reduce complexity and save money for government agencies, which now could all use their own maps with the same format. The department will provide the maps to all government agencies though the Internet. The agencies who want to use or purchase them just enter the website and stipulate the areas they are interested in. "The Land Development Department will provide the maps over the Internet in real time for an affordable fee of around Bt600 per four square kilometres," Chaiwat said. The department plans to make the maps available to the private sector over the Internet as the next step. He said the department had started to develop new maps a couple of years ago with a budget of Bt800 million.
Jirapan Boonnoon The Nation
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