The discovery of 169 corpses that had been transported from temporary graves in Chumphon to similarly temporary graves in Rayong has led to widespread speculation about the identity of the dead bodies.

Some suspect that they may include people who went missing during last year’s red shirt demonstrations; if true, this would cast doubt on official accounts of the events last April and May. Others deny this, saying the bodies are too old. Forensic tests have been ordered to find the truth.

What does not seem to have been questioned is why anyone would go to the bother of transporting a load of decomposed corpses the 650 kilometres from one side of the Gulf of Thailand to the other.

Undercover investigations by Prachatai have led to the discovery of a hitherto unknown Inter-provincial Corpse Exchange and Clearing House that handles most long-distance transportation of dead bodies in the country. Prachatai’s indefatigable reporters arrived at the nondescript office in the shadow of the expressway at Bangna when the regional manager was on the phone. There was a lingering smell of formaldehyde. The office sign bore the slogan ‘Stiffs ‘Я’ Us’.

‘No, no, … you’re not listening to me, sunshine. There’s no way we can ship to you from Rayong. The police have got the cemeteries locked up tight. We just can’t get access. …

‘Technically no, they’re not our corpses. They belong to whichever charitable organization happens to own them at the moment. We just arrange transfers and transportation. For a very modest percentage, of course. …

‘Yes I realize you placed your order before all this blew up, but if you look at your contract you will see, clause 17, subsection f, paragraph 5, … yes, I’ll hang on while you look it up, … OK? See where it says ‘force majeure’? … Well maybe you have never heard of it, but believe me, this is it. …

‘And we are making every effort to fill your order. Haven’t I told you we can do you 25 stiffs from Chiang Rai now and another 25 next week? …

‘I don’t know if they’re hill tribes, no, but what difference does that make? I mean, they’re dead. Isn’t that good enough? …

‘Oh I see, it’s for the by-election. Sorry, I hadn’t realized. I thought it was just the regular, you know, collect a mound of corpses, get donations for coffins for the indigent, quietly ship the coffins back to the undertaker at 50% off and move the stiffs on for a repeat performance in the next province. …

‘Yes, well I see why it’s important that your corpses have Thai ID. … No, illegal immigrant corpses can’t vote, I realize that. But you have to realize that the kind of dead bodies we get hold of haven’t always got an ID card in their pocket. Or a pocket, come to that. …

‘Hang on, I’ve just thought. You’ll not want any dead children in the job lot, will you? I mean, they get very sticky about underage corpses voting. …

‘No, right, see what you mean. Yes, I’ll have to check and get back to you on that. Now how do you want them shipped? …

‘Yes, they’ll be loaded onto a sip lor, individually wrapped as normal, but what do you want it to say on the paperwork? We can’t just put ‘dead bodies’ on the manifest. …

‘No, sorry, we don’t do bills of lading in the name of animal carcasses any more. Not after that mix-up in Ratburi. I’ll never eat another meatball in my life. …

‘Yes, I appreciate the need for urgency, but there’s a mad scramble for dead bodies just now. Everybody wants to prove everybody else has been killing someone. We’re absolutely rushed off our feet here. …

‘Well if you’re that desperate for corpses, why don’t you load a pick-up with migrant workers and have an accident? There are certain stretches of the Mittraphap Highway we can recommend. …

‘Now this delivery address. Where is it? …

‘Oo no, I’m sorry. We don’t do deliveries to derelict warehouses. It has to be temple grounds. I mean, you have to show some respect to the dear departed, don’t you?’