TAKUA PA, Thailand, Jan. 3 -- The photographs on the bulletin boards outside the Yan Yao Buddhist temple make for a gruesome display. Hundreds and hundreds of bloated, disfigured and decomposed corpses stare out blankly.
All have number tags attached. Some are displayed with a personal item next to them -- a watch, a bracelet, a necklace, anything that might make the grisly forms identifiable to someone who knew them. And there are babies -- dozens and dozens of babies -- and small children that look like plastic dolls melted by the tropical sun. In most cases, it is impossible to tell whether they are Asian, Caucasian or black.
Thai forensics workers examine the body of a tsunami victim at the Bang Muang temple in southern Thailand's Takua Pa district, that is used as a makeshift morgue for bodies exhumed in efforts to identify tsunami victims.
(Apichart Weerawong -- AP)
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And on some of the bulletin boards, oddly placed between the images of the corpses, there are other photographs of people smiling. There are blonde Europeans such as Susanne Kraft, with the label "Missing -- German Woman Age 42." Or the Dahlin family from Sweden: father Hans, mother Eva and their two smiling children, Olivia, 10, and Oscar, 14.
The sprawling grounds of the temple have been converted into a makeshift mortuary for hundreds of unidentified bodies recovered from Thailand's western coast that was devastated by a tsunami Dec. 26. While volunteers work on computers to try to trace any information about the missing, Thai forensics technicians, with help from foreign experts, perform the delicate task of taking DNA samples from each corpse, usually a piece of muscle from the arm.
Most of the bodies now being recovered, however, are too decomposed to make any DNA from muscle samples reliable. "If it's been too long, we won't use the flesh, we'll use the bone instead," said Piya Durongkadech, 27, a medical forensics resident, as he took a break from the seemingly endless task of trying to assign identities to the dead.
"It's too many, too many," he said, shaking his head. "It's hard even to express my feelings."
The Thai government lists 5,046 confirmed dead, slightly less than half of them foreigners. Another 3,810 are reported missing, down from an earlier estimate of more than 6,000 and far below what other countries are reporting. There was no explanation for the discrepancies.
An accurate tally of foreigners killed may never be known. Sweden has reported more than 3,500 of its citizens missing, most of them in Thailand. Germany has said 1,000 of its citizens remain missing. Australia has reported 78 missing, in addition to 13 confirmed dead. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Monday put the number of missing Britons at 159, in addition to the 40 Britons confirmed dead, the first time his government has provided a figure.
Workers say they have lost count of how many bodies are here, because as soon as some are identified and taken away, new ones arrive.
Swarms of volunteers, many with no experience in forensics or mass death, have been pressed into service. Keiko and Tomoko Nasuho, 21-year-old twin sisters who study marketing at Bangkok University, came here to help when they heard about the tragedy. They expected to be used as interpreters because of their language skills; instead, they've been carrying bodies and assisting doctors as they extract DNA samples.
"The first time I went inside, I cried," said Keiko Nasuho. "I took a lot of breaks. Now I'm not affected anymore. But I won't forget it. I can't get it out of my head at night. I'm really afraid to go to sleep."
Police in Phuket issued a directive on Monday telling all friends and relatives of the missing or dead to "refrain from visiting the tsunami-affected locations, temples, mosques, all operational grounds, including DNA gathering sites and autopsy sites." The statement, signed by police Lt. Tuaytup Dwibyunsin, added, "We have to get organized."
Under the current system for identifying remains, relatives are first asked to go to Tent 1 to view photographs and see whether they recognize their loved ones. Next to that tent is a first aid tent for those who are overcome by the photo gallery.
The next stop is Tent 3, the DNA collection tent, where Chureerat Phokaew, a 24-year-old graduate student in medical genetics, sits at a table from 7 in the morning until 7 at night with a stack of cotton swabs and plastic bags.
For a mother, father, daughter or son of a missing person, Chureerat will swab the inside of the mouth, enough for a close DNA match. If the relative is a brother or sister, she will take a second DNA sample from a root of hair.
The Interior Ministry said Monday that the search for the missing was winding down, and was complete on Phuket island. The search is now concentrating on this hard-hit province, Phang Nga, and specifically Khao Lak, from which most of the Swedes are missing. The fishing village of Baan Nam Khem, which was virtually wiped away by the tsunami and is likely to be the most devastated of the Thai villages, was also a focus of attention.
But eight days after the disaster, family members still clung to hope. In Baan Nam Khem relatives continued to scour the sandy beach and debris for lost family members.
Watcharee Ruangkaew, 33, who earned a living fishing in Baan Nam Khem, lost eight members of her family. She has come back each day to the beachfront where her house once stood, and so far has found the corpses of three relatives. She will keep returning, she said, until she can find the others, including her 4-year-old nephew.
"We hope to see even just the dead bodies," she said. "In Buddhism, we believe we have to offer food and water to free them."
