By Nopporn Wong-Anan

PHUKET, Thailand, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Three years after Phuket saw the largest forensic operation in history, Thai and foreign experts will join forces to identify the charred bodies from Sunday's plane crash on the Thai resort island.

Eight experts from Israel, which sent a team to the island to help identify the nearly 5,500 victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, were due to arrive on Phuket on Tuesday, a Thai official said.

Australia also offered to help identify victims from the budget airliner that crashed while trying to land in driving rain and swirling wind, killing 89 people, 55 of them foreigners.

"We welcome any offer from foreign friends," Foreign Ministry spokesman Piriya Khempon told Reuters.

So far, the dead are known to include four Swedes, three Americans, two Iranians, a French national, at least one Australian and a Briton.

Thai authorities have set up a temporary morgue at Phuket airport, where they have confirmed the identities of 26 Thais and 20 foreigners so far.

"This is much easier than our work during the tsunami," Police Lieutenant General Tani Twidsi said.

"Most of the bodies are still in good condition. Many of the tourists had travel documents with them. It's not difficult to identify them," he said.

Autopsies on the 89 bodies were completed earlier on Monday and investigators were collecting fingerprints, blood samples and X-raying teeth.

"I would like to urge the families of the dead to bring as much evidence as possible to help identify the victims, especially dental records. We don't need DNA yet because the bodies are still in good condition," Tani said.

The challenge was far greater three years ago when police investigators from Thailand and at least 20 different countries had to deal with rotting bodies exposed to days in salt water and tropical heat.

Reliable fingerprints were hard to obtain from bodies lying in water. Bacteria thrived in the heat and humidity, breaking down DNA and making laboratory analysis more difficult.

Tani said a key lesson learned from the tsunami was adequate cold storage to prevent further decomposition.

Some bodies from the tsunami were thrown into mass graves to try and halt the decay while mobile refrigeration units were trucked in to provide storage.

In the wake of Sunday's crash, three refrigerated containers were sent to Phuket airport and others will be moved there over the next few days.

Unclaimed bodies will be buried at a cemetery in the neighbouring southern province of Phang Nga, where more than 400 unidentified bodies of tsunami victims were buried last year.

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