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Thailand has been waiting for the past three years for additional information from the North Korean government about the fate of Anocha Panchoy, the Thai woman who was allegedly abducted by North Korean Agents in 1978 from Macau. The details were given by Charles Robert Jenkins, who spent at least nine years from 1983 living next to her apartment in Pyongyang. It was very clear from Jenkins' interviews, including a photograph showing Anocha in the background, that she was still alive and living in North Korea.

When former foreign minister Kantathi Suphamongkol raised the issue twice with the North Korean government after the report surfaced in the Thai media three years ago this week, Pyongyang dismissed the report out of hand. The Panchoy family has since then come forward with addition information about her life and plans. Since 2005 Bangkok has failed to follow up the case with Pyongyang.

Ironically, North Korea has also ignored Thailand's proposal to form a joint investigation committee on Anocha's whereabouts. Last month Tokyo and Pyongyang agreed to establish a joint investigation committee to comprehensively examine the abduction issue. This process has been delayed due to growing uncertainty regarding North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's health. The Thai government should revive the proposal. Thailand established diplomatic relations with North Korea in May, 1975.

State-sanctioned abduction by North Korea is a serious crime, something that Kim admitted in September 2002 in a face-to-face meeting with former Japanese prime minister Junichi Koizumi. The surprise confession came after decades of efforts by the Japanese government and families of abductees and support groups to highlight the issue. It is sad that the Thai public is so apathetic. Support groups from Japan have already given the Panchoy family moral and material support to cope with the abduction. Anocha's brother Sukham has also met with Japanese abductees' families. Again, it is also ironic that Anocha, who comes from the same town as Thaksin Shinawatra, was not mentioned by the deposed leader at all.

Until Thailand takes Anocha's whereabouts seriously, North Korea will not divulge any further information or even try harder. The Panchoys are not a powerful family with connections. Sukhum is a private citizen. Before Kim's confession to the Japanese, his government had dismissed the same allegations over and over again. Thailand should learn the valuable lesson from Japan, whose citizens have been abducted in great numbers, that continued pressure from the government and the people can go a long way towards pressuring North Korea to return the captives. Japan recognises only 17 cases. Five of the victims have returned home and rejoined their loved ones. In 2006 Tokyo set up a headquarters on the abduction issue to coordinate all government efforts to secure the return of the remaining abductees.

Thailand has had cordial ties with North Korea since they established diplomatic ties, ahead of Thai-Chinese ties, which were only completed in July, 1975. The Foreign Ministry should re-evaluate relations with Pyongyang. Without sufficient and speedier collaboration on the fate of Anocha, ties should be down-graded.

In 2000 Thailand ordered the expulsion of six North Korean diplomats following the bungled kidnapping of a fellow envoy. Luckily the car the kidnappers used overturned on a roadside before it could cross the border into Laos. Since that incident, both countries have been trying to repair relations. They are better now but have not reached the pre-2000 level.

Bangkok has a lever against Pyongyang, whose diplomatic mission in Bangkok is one of its largest and most important. The Thai government should not be coy with North Korea. If cooperation is not forthcoming, we should suspend ties. Thailand has nothing to lose. At the same time, Thailand should raise this issue in the international forum to gather support. We must let the world know about Anocha's plight.