Pattani skull to undergo facial imaging
CIFS official Nunto Sartprasit reconstructs the face of an unidentified man whose skull was found in Pattani.
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Forensic officials have failed in their attempts to establish the identity of a partially clothed skeleton found in Pattani. It has thus far been established that the skeleton is that of a Thai man aged over 40.
Having exhausted traditional means of identification, forensic officers will now employ techniques new to Thailand in bid to determine the identity of the deceased. He will become the first case in Thailand in which a face has been reconstructed in a bid to determine identity. Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) acting director Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunand said there were a lot of bodies that had never been identified in Thailand. "I believe facial reconstruction will help," she said. It was because of Pornthip's efforts that two CIFS staff were sent to the United States last year to study how to reconstruct faces when left with only a skeleton to go on. "Facial reconstruction could be very useful in cases that have come to a dead end," she said. "Other traditional means of identification fail when there is no DNA sample of the deceased's relatives to compare with traces from the skeletons found," said Nunto Sartprasit, a CIFS medical photographer and one of the two staff who took a three-week course in facial reconstruction in Oklahoma. "The facial reconstruction will enable their relatives to recognise them and help identify them," said Nunto. Nunto said to sculpt a three-dimensional facial reconstruction, the artist had to know basic information about the deceased and then employ proper tissue-depth data, determined by race, gender and age. The tissue markers are then glued onto a mould of the skull. Clay is then built up in layers, following the skeleton's natural contours. Artificial eyes are then placed in the eye sockets. Various measurements are made and logged to determine the thickness and length of nose and the thickness and width of mouth, as well as eye placement. A wig adds the final touch. "The hairstyle we choose depends on the trends of the day at time of death," said Nunto. After completion the sculpture is clothed as it was found and the pictures made public, in the hope dead relatives will recognise the deceased. "I think a reconstructed face is about 70 per cent dependable," said Nunto. It takes him about two days to finish a sculpture, he said. "The cost of a facial reconstruction is only about a thousand baht, quite cheap when compared with DNA tests, which cost about Bt5,000-Bt10,000 each." The drawback of facial reconstruction is that it can't be used if the skulls are incomplete, burnt or damaged. Another obstacle is the lack of data about the specific tissue depths of Thai people, said Nunto, adding that the institute planned to research tissue depths soon. "The method has proven reliable for a long time overseas and this is the first time it's been used in Asia," said Pornthip. She said there were more than a thousand unidentified bodies held by the CIFS, excluding 300 bodies found in a Chinese cemetery in Pattani and 10 burnt bodies found in Tak's Phop Phra district. Pornthip said the faces from 300 bodies in Pattani would be reconstructed next, while the Tak case was on hold because none of the bodies had a complete skull. More forensic sculptors will be trained in the US, said Pornthip, adding that she also planned to develop computer software that could complete reconstruction faster than sculpting by hand. Chatrarat Kaewmorakot The Nation
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