A small village in Udon Thani has come under the national spotlight after authorities came across piles of unidentified corpses, most of them partially cremated and suspected to be murder victims.
The police determined the site was not a funeral pyre but a "disposal site of murdered individuals".
Human remains were found in at least 23 spots in a forest in Ban Kham Bon Wiang Chai in Udon Thani's Ban Phue district recently.
Detectives are trying to establish links between the corpses and unsolved murder and abduction cases.
So far, they have determined a former local policeman may be connected to a murder, when a victim's body dumped at the site was identified through a DNA match.
The rest of the bodies found at the site remain unidentified.
Police are investigating to see if the bodies were victims of a criminal gang.
Pramot: Linked to woman's body in forest
On April 21, local police were alerted to the discovery of human bodies at the site. After news of the grisly find was reported by the media, families of missing persons made inquires to the police.
One of them was the family of Bang-on Thong-on, a millionaire who disappeared from her home in Ban Dong Bang in Ban Phue district on June 4, 2014. Police later found her motorcycle in a pond close to Bang Nong Hua Khu in the district.
On June 8, 2014 Ban Phue police found a tarred human body, believed to be that of Bang-on, in a forest area about 400m from the roadside. A burnt mobile phone and an amulet were collected as evidence, which police hope could provide clues to Bang-on's disappearance. She disappeared with 100,000 baht cash and 10-baht-weight gold ornaments.
Udon Thani police later sought an arrest warrant for Boonna Thong-ngam, 57, for allegedly colluding to murder Bang-on, stealing her valuables and concealing and disposing of her body.
Another arrest warrant was issued for Pol Sub Lt Pramot Buphasiri, 64, the former police officer suspected of being involved in the disappearance and murder of Bang-on.
The officer was already behind bars for another murder case, in which he was accused of murdering Warunee Chaiyarin, head of the financial section of Jampa Mong tambon administration organisation in Ban Phue district on Nov 29, 2011.
Although police suspected Pol Sub Lt Pramot was behind several murders, and believe he disposed of the bodies in the forest area in Ban Kham Bon Wiang Chai, they say they did not have sufficient evidence to charge him.
However, the investigators continued digging and secured more evidence in Bang-on's disappearance.
Police found that before the woman went missing, Pol Sub Lt Pramot had contacted her and asked to borrow money from her.
Bang-on refused to lend the money as the policeman failed to come up with collateral, which angered him, according to Pol Maj Gen Yanyong Wech-osoth, chief investigator of the Provincial Police Region 4.
Pol Sub Lt Pramot needed money to fight a legal battle in the Warunee murder case, Pol Maj Gen Yanyong said.
Meanwhile, Mr Boonna last week allegedly confessed to his involvement in Bang-on's murder and implicated Pol Sub Lt Pramot in the murder plot.
On June 4, 2014 Pol Sub Lt Pramot drove a truck carrying two large tyres and a gallon of oil and picked up Mr Boonna as they headed to a forest area near Bang-on's chilli farm where they went into hiding and waited until she was alone.
Pol Sub Lt Pramot later grabbed the woman and broke her neck, according to police investigations.
The investigation found the men took Bang-on's body to the forest about 20km away and set it on fire. They took 100,000 baht cash and a gold necklace and rings and dumped her motorcycle into a pond.
The two returned to the forest the following morning and burnt Bang-on's body again to ensure it was destroyed.
Mr Boonma said Pol Sub Lt Pramot paid him 14,000 baht to commit the crime.
Pol Sub Lt Pramot has denied any wrongdoing.
Deputy national police chief Chaloemkiat Sriworakhan said at least 28 out of 41 DNA samples collected from relatives of missing people did not match up with the skeletons found in Udon Thani.
Contact Crime Track: crimetrack@bangkokpost.co.th