The skeleton was found Wednesday as residents cleared garbage and debris from woods hundreds of meters from the beach in the Takua Pa district of Phang Nga province, police Colonel Khemarin Hassiri said.

Based on the estimated period of death, doctors believe the woman was killed in the tsunami although they could not say whether she was Thai or foriegn, said Khemmarin, who heads the Disaster Victim Identification unit in neighbouring Phuket island.

Authorities planned to transfer the skeleton later Saturday from the hospital in Takua Pa to the unit, he added.

DNA from the skeleton will be sent to China for analysis in hopes that the results will match DNA samples from one of the more than 700 people still missing, he said.

The discovery this week was the first time remains of a tsunami victim have been found since May.

Some 5,400 people, including at least 2,436 foreigners from 37 countries, were killed when the tsunami hit Thailand last December 26.

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