Pheu Thai shares red shirt fears over temple deaths

Pheu Thai shares red shirt fears over temple deaths

The ruling Pheu Thai Party still harbours suspicions that red shirts missing since last year may be among the 169 unidentified bodies buried in Rayong, despite confirmation having been issued that the corpses are too old.

Pheu Thai has urged police to be thorough in their investigation into the identities and circumstances of the deaths.
The bodies were buried in three temples.
"Among the 169 bodies, there may be some red shirts who were killed during political turmoil last year blended in," said Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit, referring to the violent culmination in May 2010 of anti-government protests in Bangkok.
The Royal Thai Police Office should set up a committee to probe the matter.
Pheu Thai has also set up a team to look into the deaths and will call its first meeting on Thursday, after the policy delivery debate in parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The issue was put under the spotlight after Santhan Chayanon, chief of police legal and affairs litigation, led a team of police to inspect three temples in Rayong after receiving a complaint about mass graves on their grounds.
Provincial Police Region 2, which supervises the eastern provinces, confirmed yesterday all 169 unidentified bodies had been kept by the Buddha Pratheep Foundation in Chumphon for more than five years awaiting family or friends to step forward and claim them.
Eventually, the Buddhasart Songkroh Foundation in Rayong asked for them to be transported for burial ahead of a mass cremation of unidentified bodies scheduled for next year.
Provincial Police Region 2 chief Pol Lt Gen Tha-ngai Pratsajaksattru said the bodies had fully decomposed by the time they were buried and they were accompanied by the proper documentation, including burial permits.
He said people who drowned in the Typhoon Gay disaster in 1989 were among the unidentified bodies.
"Before the burial, efforts were made to locate the families or friends [of the victims] for over five years. No one came forward.
"The bodies were completely decomposed," he said.
Residents and village heads usually examined papers and acted as witnesses when unidentified people were buried.
Pol Lt Gen Tha-ngai said the mass burial had been reported by the media once before, but no controversy arose at the time.
The bodies were sent by the Buddha Pratheep Foundation to three Rayong temples for burial in August last year. Seventy-two were buried at Wat Klong Ta Kwa, 32 at Wat Samor Prong and 65 at Wat Huai Yang.
Pol Lt Gen Tha-ngai said forensic experts have joined the probe launched after suspicions were raised that missing red shirts might be among the bodies.