Forensic results on four human body parts discovered in several locations in the Chao Phraya River since Saturday reveal they are likely from an Asian foreigner, police say.
The tests have also confirmed the parts are from the same person, acting Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Sanit Mahathaworn said.
A head, an arm, a torso and leg parts were found.
Meanwhile, Deputy National police chief Pongsapat Pongcharoen together with Pornchai Suthirakhun, chief of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital, said a total of six body parts were examined but DNA tests on two others which were sent to the institute later are under way.
Another part of a leg was found yesterday in the river in Pathum Thani, police said.
The tests also confirmed that the body parts belong to an Asian male, aged about 40 years old and more than 165cm tall but his nationality could not be determined, Pol Gen Pongsapat said.
However, a forensic official source said the DNA results showed the body parts are not from a Thai national.
The man is believed to have been killed before being dismembered and dumped into the river, police said.
Police are seeking assistance from the Foreign Ministry to contact the relatives of Li Xin, a Chinese journalist who was reported to have vanished in Thailand, to conduct DNA tests to see whether the body parts are his, police said.
However, an Immigration Bureau source said Mr Li left Thailand on Jan 11.
