63 replies to this topic

[webfact]

Bangkok police test X-ray van in Ratchada, catch nobody
By Coconuts Bangkok


Source: krobkruakao.com

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok police recently tested out X-ray vans that can scan cars for weapons or drugs in the entertainment zones of Ratchada Road.

The vehicles can scan cars within five feet – either while driving by or while parked and letting cars pass. The rays scatter back to a detector in the van and a full picture of the interior of a scanned car is shown, just like a medical X-ray.

Police in the van then radio checkpoint teams to make arrests if they see illegal contraband. Unfortunately, police found that the X-rays on four test vans stopped functioning well after two or three hours of use because of the heat, Channel 3 reported.

Deputy Commissioner General of Royal Thai Police Pol. Gen. Ekworrapong Chiwwareaprecha said that police want to use technology and optimize vehicle searches to combat a rising wave of crime and violence. Police plan to use the X-ray trucks at borders and in Bangkok entertainment zones, he said. He told Channel 7 that they hadn’t made any arrests yet on the first night [more...]

Full story: http://www.coconutsb...a-catch-nobody/

-- COCONUTSBangkok 2012-06-27

[Yunla]

stopped functioning well after two or three hours of use because of the heat

Unforeseen factors.

Edited by Yunla, 2012-06-27 12:12:37.

[chiang mai]

No mention anywhere of the vehicle's occupants getting cooked in the process, probable over time I suspect.

[Tywais]

One of the disadvantages of the 'lowest bid' requirements for capital purchases.

[harrry]

Hope they let pregnant women out of the vehicle first.

[Payboy]

Hope they let pregnant women out of the vehicle first.

Or women getting impregnated in cars. It's Ratchada after all.

[soundman]

police found that the X-rays on four test vans

I wouldn't volunteer to operate that that contraption. We all get enough radiation from the sun, just look at hospital staff in the x-ray area. They work behind a lead shielded concrete wall.

Watch out for irradiated police.

[ginjag]

Negative test, make no bones about it. Catch-NO-BODY. Laugh--within 5 feet---and within 2-3 hours stopped functioning because of the heat ????? at night ??? well hope they do not use them at NOON. They then would need fire brigade back up--5555 Ha Ha

[mrtoad]

Doesn't bode well, if it stops working after 3-4 hours. Another Airship of Airport Scanner screw up in the making

[Thaddeus]

police found that the X-rays on four test vans

I wouldn't volunteer to operate that that contraption. We all get enough radiation from the sun, just look at hospital staff in the x-ray area. They work behind a lead shielded concrete wall.

Watch out for irradiated police.

Perhaps that is why they didn't find anything, they only used the device on cars that were made from lead, as they were so concerned about the health risks.

[harrry]

A few well trained puppy dogs would be better....but they could not be bought off.

[WhizBang]

Am I the only one concerned about the BiB operating an X-Ray machine to scan passing vehicles, presumably without getting anyone's consent, or even warning them about the dangers associated with being X-rayed?

Personally, I have zero desire to be X-rayed unnecessarily. And, of course, we know that the machine will be properly maintained and inspected over time to ensure it does not leak X-rays while in use.

I am also wondering who is operating the machine. Are they qualified in any way to be operating an X-ray machine?

Scary stuff this. The only thing scarier would be a (Thai) government operated nuclear power plant.

Amazing Miracle Thailand, indeed.

[Monkey Fish]

My first thought was, "Another fine product from the people that brought you the GT 200."

But a little googling turned up this. I was most interested in the safety issue, but there is other product info there.

[Tywais]

Am I the only one concerned about the BiB operating an X-Ray machine to scan passing vehicles, presumably without getting anyone's consent, or even warning them about the dangers associated with being X-rayed?

Not the only one.

Safety:

Unlike, say, radio waves, ionizing radiation is dangerous because it can damage living tissue, rearrange chromosomes, and raise cancer risks. Whether the radiation is harmful depends on the dose: ionizing radiation at very low doses is ubiquitous in the environment, including from cosmic radiation, radon, and high-altitude air travel. Pregnant women are especially sensitive to high doses of ionizing radiation.
"This seems to be a massive escalation in the use of these systems," says Peter Rez, a professor of physics at Arizona State University who has studied the way the X-ray scanners work.

Rez says the name that Homeland Security has picked for its border scanners--"Low Energy Drive Through Portal Non-Intrusive Inspection Systems"--is highly misleading. "To call anything based on high energy X-rays 'low energy' is worse than 1984 doublespeak" because radiation emitted by the scanners "goes right through the person" sitting in a vehicle, he says. (High energy X-rays can penetrate not only human flesh, but steel plates that are multiple centimeters thick.)

"Society will pay a huge price in cancer because of this," John Sedat, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California at San Francisco, told CNET. Sedat has raised concerns about the health risks of X-ray scanners, and the European Commission in November prohibited their use in European airports.

CNet.com

Privacy:

Rotenberg sees the ZBVs as mobile versions of the same full-body scanning technique that has tested Americans' tolerance for intrusion as it's been deployed in airports around the country. His organization is currently suing the Department of Homeland Security to prevent airport deployments of X-ray backscatter and millimeter wave scanners, which can reveal detailed images of human bodies. (Just how much detail became clear last May, when a Transportation Security Administration employee was charged with assaulting a co-worker who made jokes about the size of his genitalia after receiving a full-body scan.)

AS&E counters privacy critics by pointing out that the ZBV scans don't capture nearly as much detail of human bodies as their airport counterparts do. The company's marketing materials say that its "primary purpose is to image vehicles and their contents" and that "the system cannot be used to identify an individual, or the race, sex or age of the person."

Though Reiss admits that the scanners "to a large degree will penetrate clothing," he points to the lack of features in images of humans like those above and on the previous page, pictures he says show far less detail than is captured in the airport scans. "From a privacy standpoint I'm hard-pressed to see what the concern or objection could be," he says.

Forbes

[canman]

My first thought was, "Another fine product from the people that brought you the GT 200."

But a little googling turned up this. I was most interested in the safety issue, but there is other product info there.

These things are scary. Note this quote from their website:

The ZBV is equipped with numerous safety mechanisms. The system is fully interlocked for X-ray safety. The ANSI standard specifies all of the radiation safety measures that systems such as ZBV must have, such as interlocks and emergency stops. Any malfunction that could cause an unexpected increase in radiation emission is interlocked to prevent X-ray generation. (An interlock is a device that, when tripped, automatically prevents the system from generating radiation.)

It is not to hard to imagine an untrained or poorly trained technician by-passing or disabling one of these interlocks and thereby allowing the machine to generate dangerous levels of X-rays

[Reasonableman]

What will the ZBV system detect?

The ZBV system is exceptionally effective in detecting explosives and other security threats, as well as drugs and contraband.

Edited by Reasonableman, 2012-06-27 13:27:36.

[Payboy]

Need a lead-lined car to match my tin-foil hat now.

[daninthai]

I doubt they have thought this through. I think anyone who goes through one of these checkpoints, and later in life develops cancer, should sue the BIB for a huge amount.

[AleG]

The point of this devices is to make a bundle to the "security" company and those receiving backhanders.
A little security circus is then needed to appease the public.

How this can be used in that area to fight drugs is beyond me, are they going to spot a few pills in someone's pocket, and if so stop every person coming back from the doctor?
Or are we to believe that there's mayor drug contraband going through Ratchadaphisek, as in tens or hundreds of kilos of stuff hidden in car seats and spare tires?

[Moruya]

It must be a large amount of Rads to penetrate the mild steel skin of a car.

Presumably there is some kind of a plate the other side of the road?

You wouldn't want to be standing there having a cigarette and a chat - that's for sure

[Tywais]

Presumably there is some kind of a plate the other side of the road?

The systems use back-scatter x-rays. That is it detects the x-rays that reflect from the car back to the detectors. The 'scatter' part is a bit disconcerting though.

[bangkokdavie]

I didn't see anywhere in the article what type / brand of equipment they are using ? Does anyone know that it is ZBV for sure ? I for one would hope that whatever system they are using has some type of accreditation and is not merely a copy of something else.

[Reasonableman]

I doubt they have thought this through. I think anyone who goes through one of these checkpoints, and later in life develops cancer, should sue the BIB for a huge amount.

Good luck with that!

[arkom]

Am I the only one concerned about the BiB operating an X-Ray machine to scan passing vehicles, presumably without getting anyone's consent, or even warning them about the dangers associated with being X-rayed?

This wouldn't fly in the US. If people where getting x-rayed without consent then they would be suing for millions!!!

Edited by arkom, 2012-06-27 14:51:40.

[Cobalt60]

Free with every driving licence

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