Khao Lak skeleton is TTVI Phuket’s last case
PHUKET: A skeleton discovered in Khao Lak last week became the final case to be dealt with in Phuket by the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification unit (TTVI) which closed its doors on Monday in preparation for opening new premises in Bangkok on January 4 next year.
Pol Col Khemmarin Hassiri, Superintendent of the TTVI’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) unit, told the Gazette that the remains were found in a wooded area by locals.
Col Khemmarin said, “We assume that this 90%-complete skeleton belongs to a tsunami victim because we have found no evidence of foul play. The skeleton is of an as-yet-unidentified female; we do not know if she was Thai or foreign.”
TTVI Joint Chief of Staff Pol Col Pornprasert Kanjanarin said that the TTVI plans to move 719 sets of remains – including the newly-discovered skeleton – from Phuket’s Mai Khao cemetery to Bang Maruan cemetery in Phang Nga before December 26.
A total of 3,672 corpses were sent to the TTVI. Of these, 2,867 have been successfully identified, 1,049 being Thai and 1,818 foreign. Of the identified bodies, 173 have not been claimed. A further 805 bodies remain unidentified.
