Thailand to set up a missing persons centre

BANGKOK: -- Thailand plans to set up a national missing-person database centre, Justice Minister Suwat Liptapanlop told TNA on Wednesday.

The Central Institute of Forensic Science will play a leading role in establishing and operating the centre.

The Royal Thai Police will also participate in the scheme.

They have been government agencies handling the identification of unclaimed bodies.

The Department of Special Investigations (DSI) will also be involved.

The national centre's service would contribute greatly to the protection of human rights and help relieve the psychological burdens on relatives of the missing ones, the minister said.

Mr. Suwat promised to push for a cabinet approval of a budget for the centre as soon as possible.

--TNA 2005-03-31

Just a short note about survivors of the tsunami. I received a frantic phone call from a young lady in Canada who said that she had not heard from her father or his family in Phuket and was extremely worried about them. When she called the phone number she had, whoever answered did not speak English. I then contacted the Adaman Sea Guest House in Phuket to see if they could assist (one of the owners is originally from Calgary). After a number of e-mail messages back and forth, and passing on as much information as I could get from the young lady, I received a message the other day from the Adaman Sea Guest House that her family had been located! They are all well, although they lost their Mini-Mart and their bar, as well as all their documentation, which meant that the father did not have any phone numbers to contact his daughter in Canada.

Just goes to show you that the Thais are not the only ones who go "above and beyond" to assist strangers!

I would just like to, once again, thank the people at the Adaman Sea Guest House for their persistence in this matter - thanks, guys!!

Hope this success story takes some of the "badness" away from the murders/suicides/horror stories.

With very kind regards,

Francie Lorren

PA to the Consul-General

Royal Thai Consulate-General, Calgary, Canadaa