Link to the Nation story http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/03/26...es_30030240.php

Doesn't work.

As I was driving home yesterday, this story was being discussed on the จส100 radio station. I didn't hear the beginning so don't know who the official being interviewed was.

It seems that the authorities are looking into the stories of the 'van gang' but are as yet unsure whether they really exist. Stories are coming in from every part of the country including Bangkok and he advised people to keep a special watch on their kids.

To put this into some kind of perspective, figures were quoted about numbers of missing children. The figures were apparently collated by an NGO who work against human trafficking but include all children reported missing, not just those who have been abducted. How they got the figures and how reliable they are I don't know.

From 2004 to the present, they report over 400 missing children. About 30 were children below the age of 11 and the rest were 11-18. I would imagine quite a number in the 11-18 age group could just be kids running away from home. If the figures are in any way reliable, it wouldn't seem to suggest that mass kidnappings are occurring.

That is no reason not to watch out for your kids though.

๋ี๋ีJust to add, I've done some googling for the organization referred to on the radio (มูลนิธิกระจกเงา) and it seems they have sent their staff to check out kidnapping reports in different parts of the country and have not found genuine cases as yet.

They would like the police to come out with some clarification on the stories.

While they are not saying the gangs do not exist, all they have found so far are unsubstantiated rumours.

ขอชี้แจ้งให้ทราบว่า ข่าวแก๊งค์รถตู้ที่มีการพูดกันตามเขตพื้นที่ต่างๆ นั้น เมื่อตรวจสอบข้อเท็จจริงพบว่าเป็นเพียงข่าวลือ

For the full piece (in Thai):

http://www.backtohome.org/autopage-new/sho...=56&d_id=56