The Foreign Ministry has lowered the number of South Koreans that remain unaccounted for from the devastating South Asian tsunamis to 124.

The number was pared down after the ministry confirmed Thursday that 44 more South Koreans were safe.

Some 150,000 people are confirmed dead from the tidal waves that swept through the Indian Ocean region last month. Included among the dead are 12 South Koreans to date. Another eight remain missing, following initial reports that 1,388 Koreans were unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, Thai authorities claimed that no foreigner was included among bodies buried in a public cemetery in Kaorak, in the northern resort of Phuket.

A Thai doctor appeared on Associated Press Television News Thursday and said that only bodies of local people, thoroughly identified, were being buried in the public cemetery and that unidentified bodies were being kept in a separate place.

The remarks come after some media reports said that bodies of European tourists were indiscriminately being buried in Karoak without conducting the proper identification procedures.