More than 250 young people went missing last year, the highest in the last four years, according to a Mirror Foundation report.
The report was released on Thursday during a media briefing on missing people led by Pol Maj Gen Saruti Khwaengsopha, commander of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD).
According to Eakkalak Loomchomkhae, director of the Foundation's Missing Persons Information Center, 251 young people were reported missing to the foundation last year, 25% higher than the number in 2021.
One-hundred-fifty-seven of them, aged between 11 and 15 years old, were middle schoolers who were influenced by their friends or sexual drives, the report said. Some fled home due to family issues, it added.
Most of the cases that the foundation received involved women who reportedly suffered sexual assault or joined a trafficking circle, Mr Eakkalak said.
The foundation received 70 reports from Bangkok, accounting for most of the missing persons cases. Other cases came from Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan (both 17 cases), Pathum Thani (16), Chon Buri, and Nakorn Pathom (both nine). Sixty-one percent of the missing voluntarily fled home, while 21% had mental health problems or disabilities, it said. Only two cases last year involved kidnapping, it said.
Mr Eakkalak said the foundation faces problems when tracking missing persons. However, the use of GPS wristbands can help track missing loved ones, he said.
"We receive 200 reports of missing [persons] each year on average," he said. "However, the number peaked last month after pandemic restrictions were loosened."
The ATPD says the Criminal Records Division uses age progression techniques to show the effects of ageing on the appearance of missing persons.
Images of missing persons under 18 are resketched every two years and those over 19 every five years, it said.
Pol Maj Gen Saruti said missing children is a major issue, adding parents should record information about their children in case they went missing.
If parents suspect a child has gone missing, they are encouraged to seek help by contacting the 1191 hotline immediately, he said.