A lack of official procedures and support from the authorities is hampering families in the search for those still missing after the red shirt protests in Bangkok
Fifteen-year-old Atitaya Phumeun has been trying to locate her father, Monchai, since the May 19 military crackdown on the red shirt protesters. She said the 38-year-old from Pathum Thani had taken part in the demonstrations since the beginning.
She said that after the situation grew tense she became very worried and constantly watched the news on television, knowing that there were a lot of dead, injured and arrested in the violence.
She called her grandfather, Mool Phumeun, Mr Monchai's father, to tell him that she had lost contact with her father.
She became even more worried when her grandfather told her he hadn't called him either. The family waited patiently and hopefully for him to call or return home, but heard nothing.
A few days after the smoke had cleared in Bangkok, Atitaya decided to call the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) to try and find some information.
"I knew the telephone number from the television," she said. "I asked how I could find my father who had joined the protest. The official just gave me the telephone number of the Mirror Foundation and told me I should contact this organisation because it operates a missing persons centre. So I did."
Her family didn't think it was a good idea for her to go to Bangkok and check the hospitals alone, as her mother, grandfather and grandmother all had to work. So they waited for news from the foundation or the CRES.
Atitaya and her younger sister and brother live with their maternal grandmother, who is a food vendor, on a small plot of land in Klong 6 in Thanyaburi district of Pathum Thani. The children's parents separated a few years ago, and both have new families.
"Our mother's house is nearby, and she still takes care of us," said Atitaya in an interview with Spectrum at her grandmother's house. She added that her father had also kept in close contact with her and her younger siblings. Shortly before joining the protest in March, he visited them and said he was going to Bangkok to be a red shirt guard.
"He contacted me almost every day by mobile phone. He told us when he was at Ratchadamnoen, and then later at the Ratchaprasong intersection," she said, adding that there had been no hint of any problems during their phone conversations.
Her grandfather, Mr Mool, added that Atitaya had taken the initiative to contact the CRES and the Mirror Foundation. "When she told me what she had done, I admired her courage," he said, adding that at first they had decided not to file a missing persons report with the police station because they hoped that he might have been arrested and detained.
In the weeks following the military crackdown, getting an accurate picture of the number of people arrested under the emergency law during and after the crackdown was an exercise in confusion. Several civil and human rights groups called for the CRES and the police to disclose the names of those arrested and where they were detained. Finally, on June 11, the police disclosed the names of 417 people on the Royal Thai Police website.
After seeing that Mr Monchai's name was not on the list, Atitaya and Mr Mool felt despair, and on the afternoon of June 11 decided to file a complaint at the Pathum Thani police station.
During the interview Mr Mool burst into tears. Like many other relatives of the missing, he would prefer knowing what happened - even if that means being told his missing son is dead - to remaining in the dark.
"We want to know whether he is dead or alive. We don't know what to think or what to do now. I don't know what else we can do but wait, just like a lot of other people."
Under a cloud of negative news stories about red shirt protesters, most relatives of missing people refuse to give interviews. Mr Mool thinks differently, however, and sees no reason to stay quiet.
"I don't blame him for joining the protest. He didn't do anything wrong. He's an adult. Everyone has a right to their own beliefs." He also believes the media might help find his son. Through the misery of the past weeks, Mr Mool has resolved to look after his granddaughter as best he can.
"We - her grandma and I - have decided to take her to stay with us so that she can go to school. Without her father's support, the burden will be too much for her [maternal] grandmother and mother to look after all three children," he said.
A HELPING HAND
According to the Mirror Foundation, a total of 80 people were reported missing by relatives following the May 19 crackdown, and 39 of these have since contacted their families. Five are reportedly being detained by the government, and one has been released on bail.
The foundation is working on the other 35 cases. Most of those who have contacted relatives said they had "gone to stay with friends up-country" for fear of being arrested.
The foundation's missing persons centre is carrying out a range of activities to assist the relatives of the missing.
"We want the documents or copies of documents of the missing relatives - ID cards or other official cards, or house registration that shows their name.
"Most importantly, the relatives must file missing persons reports with the police and send a copy to the centre," explained Nampeung Chairangsi, a legal officer working at the foundation.
"Moreover," she added, "we need to interview relatives and friends to make sure that people did actually join the protest so that we have a clear indication of where and how to further the search."
She said many relatives have not yet filed reports with the police, and many of them have not sent the necessary documents to the centre.
So far, following inquires and interviews of friends and relatives, nine people related to the protest - from Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom, Buri Ram, Khon Kaen and Roi Et - have been confirmed by the centre to be missing. Confirmation that Mr Monchai is missing is still waiting on further investigation by the centre.
Sarawuth Prathumraj, a human rights lawyer and co-ordinator of the Human Rights Study Group, pointed out that Thailand does not have a specific law covering people missing as a result of political conflict, and therefore there is no standard procedure on how to proceed in such cases.
Mr Sarawuth cited as examples the conflicts of Oct 6, 1976, and Black May, 1992, and a number of missing persons cases have remained unresolved because there was no organisation or even a team appointed to investigate the cases.
In some instances relatives of the missing had received compensation from the government, but the causes of their disappearance remains a mystery. There is no truth and no justice.
Mr Sarawuth said that under the present circumstances missing persons cases are being treated the same as they normally would - as possible kidnappings, runaways and so on. After it is determined when and where the missing person was last seen around the protest area, their pictures would be distributed and witnesses and clues would be sought.
He talked about the case of a woman who was selling water and soft drinks at Sanam Luang during the Black May protest.
"The protestors knew her, and other vendors knew her and confirmed she was there every day, even during the crackdowns. No one can make any argument about her case," he said.
He noted that these days many people own digital cameras and video recorders and there are a large number of pictures and video clips of the recent protests, which should help greatly in locating people at particular places and times.
He added that it doesn't seem likely the present government will get directly involved or take responsibility for solving the missing persons cases. "The government does not dare take on any obligation despite the emergency law that protects them from civil criminal offences," he said.
Mr Sarawuth said that there should be a law covering missing people from political conflicts and violence because many people have been forcibly "disappeared".
"Involuntary disappearance has become a tool to eliminate political opposition as well as to oppress ethnic, religious and political groups," he said. He added that the disappearance of Muslim human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit was instrumental in forming a consensus among human rights advocates that such a law was needed.
Mr Sarawuth noted that the problem of forced disappearance has been discussed at an international level for many years, and that the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006, and has so far been ratified by 18 countries. Thailand is not even a signatory.
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