In 2006, Chaipas "Ten" Danguagul went out to play with his friends. He never came home. His father went to the police but since Chaipas was missing for less than 24 hours, the police refused to file a missing persons' report. His father patrolled the neighbourhood to search for his son all night, but came up blank. The next day Chaipas' parents went to the police station, but were met with resistance again, when a policeman on duty said a missing person is not a criminal case.
About a year later, the father passed away from peptic ulcer disease. Chaipas' mother, Kornsiri Danguagul, said the stress he had suffered over the disappearance of his son caused his illness. Kornsiri has never lost hope that her son will return, even though it's been nine years. The last time she saw her son, he was 11. Now her little boy would be 20.
As a mother, Kornsiri has sought every possible way to get her child back. She sought help from the police and various organisations; she prayed; and even consulted fortune tellers. Many years have passed and sometimes despite there being small slivers of hope, the boy hasn't returned. Kornsiri's pain remains.
"Losing your son is distressful. No mother ever wants that to happen," said Kornsiri, her voice shaking. "Every time I had a clue to his whereabouts, I always followed them in the hope of finding him. It's been a long time since I last saw him, but I'm still waiting."
At many Bangkok intersections, giant digital screens now flash pictures of children who've gone missing, a reminder that disappearances remain a pressing issue. Since the beginning of this year -- barely a month -- the number of reported missing people cited by the Mirror Foundation database is more than 70.
Since 2003 there have been around 3,000 cases of missing persons, nearly two-thirds of them women. Of these cases, around 1,700 were found or returned home. Statistics from the Mirror Foundation show that everyday one to three persons leave home and do not return. Each month, the number of missing persons is around 20-50. Children between the ages of 11-15 constitute the biggest segment of the cases. It is believed that the actual number of all missing persons might be two to three times higher since many cases are unreported.
The Mirror Foundation has been working towards the issue of missing persons for 12 years with the primary objective of putting an end to human trafficking. Over the years, the organisation's mission has expanded to cover all cases, regardless of causes.
"First of all, there is no law stating that relatives have to wait for 24 hours until they can file a police report about a missing person. People always misunderstand this fact," said Eaklak Loomchomkhae, director of missing persons at the foundation's anti-human trafficking centre.
"At first our work focused on missing people who left their villages and lost contact with their families, and who were often involved in human trafficking. But we later found that the causes of missing people are more varied."
The top cause of missing people, he explains, are children running away from home, mostly females between the ages of 11-15. Although runaway children may be a problem as old as time, Eaklak believes the changing society, along with new technology, have made disappearances more prevalent and disturbing.
According to Eaklak, in the past seven years or so, ever since mobile phones and computers became more accessible, instant messaging apps and social media have become effective tools in deceiving young people.
"But still, when we dig deeper, we find that family is usually the root cause of everything," he says.
"It's often said that the government fails to do their duty [in solving the problem], or that the media pays no attention to the problem, or the NGOs don't follow up on cases. However, kidnapping is essentially caused by parents' negligence, opening up the chance for strangers to take their children.
"Or if the children intentionally run away, it is mostly because their parents don't have enough time for them. The online world becomes their friends. People they meet on the internet can be bad guys who lure kids away."
Billboards showing pictures of the missing also raise people's awareness to be more cautious with their family members.
Even though a large portion of missing person cases involve kids and young adults, the problem also exists at the other end of the spectrum. As Thailand is inching towards the status of an ageing society, statistics significantly show the increasing number of missing adults and elderly people. Alzheimer's disease and mental disorders are the main causes of missing person cases in the aged, especially in the urban society where older people are sometimes left to live on their own.
Regardless of the causes, the Mirror Foundation is a prominent organisation that is synonymous with missing person cases in Thailand, and yet it requires the official authorities in pursuing leads and investigating cases. Normally, when the family member of the missing person comes to them, the foundation helps with preliminary evaluations, gives relatives advice and helps coordinate with the police. The foundation and the police share information, and they put priority on cases involve missing persons who are below the age of 10, or those who are kidnapped or sexually abused.
"Admittedly working with officials can be slow, and missing person cases might not be marked as important as others. It really depends on each local police station's enthusiasm [in moving the cases forward]."
In 2011, the Missing Person Management Centre (MPMC) under the Royal Thai Police was established. The centre co-operates with police stations across the country to investigate and collect a database of missing person cases in order to consolidate the effort and improve the chance of solving them. According to MPMC's framework, officials have to take all reports from citizens with no exception.
The number of missing person cases recorded by the MPMC and the Mirror Foundation do not match: usually the police registers more cases than the foundation.
Another important aspect in missing person cases is that the problem, through technology, connectivity and social participation, has grown into a social concern.
"Ten years ago a missing person was more like a family matter, but now it's a social issue," says Eaklak. "A lot of people think it's the responsibility of everyone. We have received more help from various people. Social media users also share posts of missing people on Facebook. Some billboard companies give free space to the foundation to post missing person notices, too.
"By repeatedly displaying a missing person's notice, it becomes a gesture, and it goes further than searching for the missing person. It also raises awareness for everyone to be more cautious about their own kids or other family members."
Although old-fashioned, sketching pictures of missing persons is still regarded as an important and sometimes overlooked skill. Pol Col Chaiwat Burana, superintendent, Criminal Records Division of Royal Thai Police, usually sketches the faces of criminal suspects, but he also applies his skill to help find missing people, especially the tricky technique of visualising the appearance of missing people after years of absence.
"We work together with the Mirror Foundation to identify missing persons, considering they would look a lot different compared to when they went missing -- often for more than a decade," said Pol Col Chaiwat.
"I need to gather as much information as possible about the person. Photos of other family members are also needed. I analyse the data together with knowledge about physical development and turn it into a sketch."
Kornsiri, the mother of the boy who went missing in 2006, is still looking for her son, no matter how many years have passed, and no matter how her son might have grown into someone she may not remember. Her other hope is that what happened to her son can be prevented from happening to others. "A missing person's case is something that cannot be put on hold," she says. "It should never be seen as insignificant."
T-shirts for the forgetful
Elderly people who're forgetful or have Alzheimer's disease have a high chance of going missing.
In a bid to keep sufferers safe and sound, Muay T-shirt screening services company has produced the "T-shirt to prevent sufferers from going missing".
The T-shirt is plain white and emblazoned with contact details on the back that reads: "This person sometimes forgets things. If found wandering alone, please contact xx-xxx-xxxx".
Thanpatsorn Prasatsorn, the company's owner said her husband came up with the idea after seeing many news reports in which people ask the public to help locate their missing relatives.
The company gives away three T-shirts a week to families whose members suffer from Alzheimer's.
The company also recently received a request to make a T-shirt with a message to aid autistic children.
STAYING SAFE AND SOUND
- ThaiMissing
Searching for a missing person can be very tough especially when doing it alone.
ThaiMissing is the co-operation between the Mirror Foundation and True Corporation. The app features personal information concerning missing persons, including the name, age, photos with dates, venue and attire of the missing person on the day of disappearance. Searching for missing persons on the app can be done by keyword, gender or age.
App users can give clues to the foundation by entering information such as the person's appearance, location he or she was last present, name, phone number, as well as a photo.
There is also other useful information about missing persons provided in the app, including "Already Found"; "Interesting News", which is the news and movements of the missing people; and "Tips", which offers guidelines for parents, such as what to do when taking your kids out in public.
- T-shirts for the forgetful
Elderly people who're forgetful or have Alzheimer's disease have a high chance of going missing.
In a bid to keep sufferers safe and sound, Muay T-shirt screening services company has produced the "T-shirt to prevent sufferers from going missing".
The T-shirt is plain white and emblazoned with contact details on the back that reads: "This person sometimes forgets things. If found wandering alone, please contact xx-xxx-xxxx".
Thanpatsorn Prasatsorn, the company's owner said her husband came up with the idea after seeing many news reports in which people ask the public to help locate their missing relatives.
The company gives away three T-shirts a week to families whose members suffer from Alzheimer's.
The company also recently received a request to make a T-shirt with a message to aid autistic children.
