BANGKOK Thailand AP Excavation has begun for about 7000 graves of Japanese soldiers who perished during World War II the Japanese embassy said Wednesday. Japan's Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare is sponsoring the excavation in hopes of identifying some of the soldiers and providing answers for families of soldiers still listed as missing said Hideki Yamada first secretary at the embassy in Bangkok. The site near Mae Hong Son 650 kilometers 404 miles north of Bangkok and near the border with Myanmar is an abandoned cemetery of Japan's Imperial Army. The Japanese government only learned of its existence earlier this year Yamada said. The soldiers died as they trekked out of Myanmar then known as Burma after the Japanese surrendered in 1945. The Thai workers hired by the Japanese government performed Buddhist religious rites Tuesday before beginning the five-day dig. APW19981201.1180.txt.body.html APW19981201.0612.txt.body.html