This meeting kicks off the collaboration between Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Geoinformatics Center of the Asian Institute of Technology (GIC-AIT). The project aims to pilot test the using GIC’s pLitter AI-CCTV solution for plastic pollution monitoring at the river mouth of the Gulf of Thailand. This meeting is a follow-up meeting to the kick-off meeting held in July 2024.
The current plastic pollution monitoring is conducted manually by DMCR officers, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly. Therefore, this pilot testing aims to explore the feasibility of utilizing Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) for plastic pollution monitoring at the river mouths of the Gulf of Thailand. This technical option seeks to replace the manual method and establish sustainable plastic pollution monitoring in Thailand.
Dr. Kittiphon Boonma, GIC’s Research Specialist, delivered a technical presentation on the pLitter AI-CCTV solution to the relevant teams at the DMCR. Two locations for installation of CCTV at the river mouths in the Gulf of Thailand: the Chao Phraya River and the Tha Chin River were discussed. Dr. Boonma also discussed ongoing efforts to enhance the system’s capabilities, including the detection of a wider variety of plastic types, estimating plastic waste weight, and developing a data management platform. Feedback suggesting the organization of a technical workshop focused on machine learning and data management workflows was received.
