Villagers believe the 17-cm-long bone found might belong to a human, but so far no tests have been done to confirm this.
Speaking with The Phuket News this morning (March 22), Pol Lt Col Prawut Wongseenil, Special Case Specialist with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), said he had already contacted Khunying Porntip’s Central Institute of Forensic Science Thailand (CIFS).
Both the DSI and the CIFS both come under the Ministry of Justice.
“I have contacted her, and she said that a team will go to the village to get the bone soon,” Col Prawut said.
In addition to dating the bone, the CIFS might extract DNA from it, which could be compared with that of living Sea Gypsies to see if there is a genetic link that backs their claim to have lived in the area for a long time.
The Rights and Liberties Protection Department(RLPD) and the DSI visited the Rawai Sea Gypsy village on March 15 and are putting their weight behind the villagers’ efforts to prove that their claim to the land under the village predates the claims of local businesspeople who have obtained chanote titles to the land.
“The main problems the Sea Gypsies told us about are the land papers and being arrested for fishing in national park areas,”Col Prawut told The Phuket News.
“We (DSI) are working with the RLPD to gather evidence to prove whether the Sea Gypsies have lived on the land as long as they claim. I believe that we can provide enough proof to help them.”
He said that the work has just started but already the DSI has collected aerial photographs and “other evidence”, which he said the DSI will reveal after the information gathering process is complete.
As for the nine fishermen who were arrested for fishing inside the Similans National Park, Col Prawut said that the RLPD will discuss the matter with the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) because Sea Gypsy fishermen are by law allowed to fish in national parks and reserves, using traditional methods.
“The villagers have fought [the land and fishing issues] to the best of their abilities but they might not have access to the kind of evidence and information that officials can easily get hold of. From now on, we will carry out this role for them,” he said.