A Chinese actor who went missing last week near the Thai-Myanmar border has been found in Myanmar and is believed to have fallen victim to human trafficking, according to Thai authorities, as reported by Reuters on Tuesday.
“The immigration authorities have picked up the person concerned, and we are conducting relevant inquiries according to rules,” China’s consulate in Chiang Mai, a city in northwestern Thailand, said in a statement.
Wang Xing, 22, was last seen in Thailand’s northern Tak province, which borders Myanmar. The area is known for large-scale criminal enterprises and human trafficking operations run by organized gangs.
“From our initial inquiry, we believe he was a victim of human trafficking,” said Police Inspector General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot. He explained that Wang had been lured to Thailand under the pretext of a casting call but was instead trained to scam other Chinese nationals. Thatchai added that Wang had not been assaulted or abused. Wang arrived in Bangkok early on Friday morning and was escorted through immigration control by someone claiming to be a member of the production crew. He was then driven to Mae Sot, about 500km (310 miles) from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, where contact was lost around midday, according to a social media post by Wang’s girlfriend, identified only by her surname, Kang.
Wang has since been returned to Thailand. The case has drawn significant attention on Chinese social media, sparking concerns about its potential impact on Thailand’s tourism and hospitality industry, a key sector of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, with China being its largest market.
“We must handle this carefully to prevent any negative effects on Thai tourism,” said Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Last year, Thailand welcomed 35.55 million foreign visitors, including 6.74 million from China.
Southeast Asia, particularly border towns in Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos, has become a hotspot for telecom and online fraud, according to the United Nations. The UN reports that hundreds of thousands of individuals have been trafficked into scam centres.
Most trafficking victims are from Southeast Asian countries, as well as China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, but others have been brought from regions as far away as Africa and Latin America, the UN added.
