Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra recently announced the installation of an additional 3,000 streetlights throughout Bangkok. Streetlights came out high on the list of requests to the 1555 hotline and district councilors have long been telling us that streetlights are consistently high on the list of demands from their constituents. Sukhumband is also tying this in with Abhisit’s orders to reduce crime by 10% as stipulated by the Pracha Wiwat Social Welfare Scheme. BK isn’t too thrilled, though. The correlation between more lights and lower crime is heavily disputed. And then there’s the environmental cost (it’s highly ironic to add 3,000 lights ahead of Mar 26’s Earth Hour) and, of course, the fact that 30% of every government project is siphoned into corrupt government officials’ pockets. Voters will probably de-light (hur hur) in this project but we seriously doubt it will come anywhere near its crime-cutting goals.