BANGKOK, Dec. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Thailand closed its Tsunami-related Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) center in Phuket Monday with some 800 bodies left unidentified, according to a programme official.

    The DVI center will be reopened under the auspices of the RoyalThai Police Jan. 4 after the New Year holiday to continue unfinished work to identify the bodies, Superintendent of Foreign Affairs Division Pol. Col Pornprasert Kanchanarin was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying.

    Some of the 800 bodies are being kept at Bangmaruan and Mai Khao cemeteries in Phuket. Relatives of tsunami victims can contact Bangmaruan cemetery.

    The tsunami struck Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces on Dec. 26 last year, leaving 5,395 people dead in Thailand and 2,932still missing, according to Thai government data.

    Many of the victims were foreign holidaymakers staying at beachresorts in province of Phang Nga's Khao Lak district. Enditem