Thailand
In December 2004, the third largest earthquake ever recorded triggered a devastating tsunami along coastal areas in the Indian Ocean. At least 250,000 people were reported dead and missing in 11 countries, including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Maldives. An estimated 5 million people lost their homes or access to basic necessities such as food and water.
ICMP immediately offered its assistance to all the countries affected. The Thailand Tsunami Victim Identification Process, in association with the authorities in the United Kingdom and Germany, asked ICMP for assistance in the identification of 8,000 victims. Working in partnership with INTERPOL, ICMP was able to identify 900 bodies in Thailand using the DNA profiles of more than 1,700 bone samples provided by the Thai authorities.
Between 1980 and the end of 2021, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance (WGEID) recorded 82 cases of enforced disappearance in Thailand, including that of prominent Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit in March 2004. ICMP’s 2021 Global Report on Missing Persons found that “Successive governments have failed to make progress in resolving cases”[1]. On 9 January 2012, Thailand signed the International Convention on the Protection of All People from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) but as of March 2023 had not ratified the Convention.
