The Thai government Tuesday started to move the bodies of unidentified Western tsunami victims from the southern Phangnga province to Phuket in an effort to facilitate the identification process.

In Phangnga's Takua Pa district, where thousands of foreign bodies are stored, medical and police staff Tuesday morning began to sort out Western corpses in the open and re-keep them in refrigerated containers.

"We are trying to finish the transferring work within the day, but very likely it would take longer," a personnel from the Public Health Ministry told Xinhua. She said there are roughly 1,000 bodies in the Yan Yao temple.

Earlier, Thai authorities planned to move all the corpse of tsunami victims to Phuket's Ban Mai Khao Cemetery, where a one-stop victim identification center has been set up.

However, local residents voiced strong opposition to the move, saying the relocation would lead to a mix-up of bodies and further complicate the identification process.

In Phangnga's Yan Yao temple, where a temporary autopsy center is situated, medical workers and volunteers were still involved in onerous examination work before the transferring started.

A Thai dentist said he operated on two bodies Monday, and works nine to ten hours every day. A former staff in a clinic, the dentist came to help with the body identification work as a volunteer.

The corpses of victims believed to be Asian would be kept at Yan Yao temple, while those believed to be of westerners would be sent to Phuket in a few days, he said.

Local newspaper reported that the Yan Yao autopsy center will be closed from Feb. 3.

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2005)