“If you or anyone else you know – Thai or foreigner – suddenly drops dead in Bangkok, chances are the body will be grabbed by a team of eager men and women who will carefully wrap it in white cloth, carry it away hammock-style and shove it into the back of a van for a trip to a nearby hospital forensic lab.”
These guys show up at accident scenes to collect the bodies of the dead. They get paid so much per body brought in, so there has often been actual fights break out over a victim when two or more groups arrive on the scene. The story says:
**"Years ago, they occasionally fought each other with knives and other weapons, while simultaneously pulling on corpses, despite the presence of weeping loved ones.
“Today, the two groups claim their feuds are finished, though other groups have shot at and beaten Ruam Katanyu and Por Teck Tung collectors at crash sites in Bangkok in recent years. Police have since ruled that only the two main groups can collect the dead.”**
Heh. I even recall gun battles occurring way back when. There have been many accusations, too, of vaulables disappearing from the bodies. The story says Ruam Katanyu is the largest group, but the Por Teck Tung Foundation is probably the better known.