City officials deploy CCTV analytics and crowdsourcing as Bangkok’s Songkran 2026 kicks off with massive crowds, reaching 140,000 on Silom Road alone.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has significantly elevated its security and surveillance protocols as hundreds of thousands of revellers descend upon the capital for the Songkran 2026 festival.
With crowd numbers on Silom Road alone surpassing 140,000, authorities have shifted to a real-time monitoring system to manage the influx.
Command Centre Oversight
On the evening of 12 April, Thanit Tanbuaklee, deputy permanent secretary for the BMA, convened an emergency briefing at the BMA Command Centre in Din Daeng.
The focus was the integration of 50 district offices with emergency services to ensure public safety during the peak of the Thai New Year celebrations.
The city is now employing a sophisticated combination of CCTV analytics and social media crowdsourcing to assess crowd density. This tech-driven approach allows the BMA to issue immediate public alerts, redirecting tourists to less congested venues if specific areas reach “breaking point” capacity.