The Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) is pushing to create a master plan to facilitate the prompt location of missing persons, according to a workshop on Tuesday.
The master plan will set out policies to be executed via an operation plan for tracking and locating missing persons, including those who are anonymous, dead or alive, which was discussed at the workshop "Direction in Developing a Tracking System for Missing Persons" in Bangkok.
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister ACM Prajin Juntong, who was a speaker at the forum, said the government wants a system to be put in place that allows easy and effective tracing of the missing.
The master plan is aimed at streamlining the current regulations used for locating missing persons, and will meet international standards, ACM Prajin said.
The justice minister said disappearances are often connected to national security and so it is vital that the issue is addressed in a systematic fashion.
The CIFS will lead the drafting of the master plan which will involve civic organisations in the tracking process.
A special committee will be established to take charge of the drafting which will be carried out in collaboration with 11 agencies.
On the operational level, tracking methods will be outlined and followed with a database of missing persons which will be made available to related agencies, according to ACM Prajin.
The tracking system and database must also adhere to internationally recognised standards, and every family must have unhindered access to information about their missing loved ones, the minister said.
CIFS director Wannapong Kotcharak said there were a total of 530 open cases relating to missing persons dating back to Dec 1, 2002.
The institute will spend the next three years drafting the master plan.
Pol Lt Col Wannapong noted that some crime syndicates are known to be responsible for the disappearances of people. He added there is a growing tendency for the elderly, migrant workers, the homeless and people with mental illnesses to be the victims of enforced disappearances.
A workshop participant, Sasiya Kasemsakchai, said her younger brother, Komol Kasemsakchai, was found in 2017, five years after going missing from their home in Saraburi.
Her brother, who suffers cerebral palsy, is unable to speak but can walk. In 2017, Mr Komol left the family home and didn't return.
The family alerted the local police who could not find him. Ms Sasiya said she had contacted other agencies but they were not of much help.
She said the family provided a DNA sample to the CIFS which was later used to identify Mr Komol after he was taken into care by a homeless centre in Si Sa Ket.
