KHON KAEN: The sight of excited dogs gnawing at something on the roadside led to the discovery of the dismembered body of a newborn baby in Muang district early on Monday morning.
A local motorcyclist reported the gruesome find to police about 12.10am.
Most of the body parts were found beside the entrance of Khon Kaen Vithes Suksa School in Ban Sa-ard village of tambon Muang Kao.
Thanarat Anu-an, 30, said he was going out to his paddy field and when he saw dogs gnawing on what he soon realised was a baby's leg, about one kilometre from the school.
He phoned local police to report it.
An unpleasant smell then led him to the dioscovery of the head, arms and torso of the baby, wrapped in a green shirt, near the school.
Pol Col Pakpoom Pisamai, chief of Muang Khon Kaen police, said the baby was a newborn because there was still amniotic fluid on the body.
The body parts were decaying and seemed to have been cut with a sharp object. Police had yet to identify its gender.
Investigators were hoping to trace the dead baby's mother and family. An autopsy would determine the cause of death, he said.