Pongsapat vows to focus on safety

Pheu Thai candidate Pongsapat Pongcharoen said yesterday his first priority if he was elected as Bangkok Governor on March 3 would be to set up 24-hour "safety watch" centres to monitor crime, drug trafficking, fires and natural calamities.

All 50 districts of Bangkok would map out separate plans for risk-prone zones, he said.

The centres would employ 100,000 safety volunteers, each paid Bt600 per month.

In addition, all buses and taxis would be required to install GPS systems enabling them to be tracked.

Pongsapat said every public school in the capital would be designated a drug-free zone, or "white school", while the city administration would build more fire stations as well as purchase helicopters to fight fires in high-rise buildings.