Pichet was speaking after a recent briefing by deputy Phuket governor Thawornwat Kongkaew on progress in the implementation of the smart-city plan for the tourist destination.
Phuket is mulling a move to develop an electronic wristband system for foreign tourists so their identity and location would be known in case of untoward incidents, according to Thailand’s economy and society minister, Pichet Durongkaveroj.
Pichet was speaking after a recent briefing by deputy Phuket governor Thawornwat Kongkaew on progress in the implementation of the smart-city plan for the tourist destination.
The Nation reported that after the briefing, Pichet said smart-city developments included the installation of 1,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots, up from the current 200 hotspots.
He said the province also has plans to develop the uses of wristbands to track tourists and to use Big Data to analyse information about tourists’ habits.
He said the Phuket command centre would also link to all CCTVs on the island to work with face-recognition software to guard against crimes as well as to collect the data of tourists who use public boat services. This would be done for the sake of their safety, the minister said.