Chinese Actor Allegedly Trafficked Into Myanmar After Falling Victim To Audition Scam
Wang has now been returned to Thailand.
A Chinese actor who went missing last week near the Thai-Myanmar border has been found in Myanmar and may have been the victim of human trafficking, Thai authorities said on Tuesday, 7 January
Wang Xing, 22, was reported missing in northern Thailand's Tak province bordering Myanmar, an area known for large-scale criminal enterprises and human trafficking by organised gangs.
"From initial inquiry, we believe he was a victim of human trafficking," police inspector general Thatchai Pitaneelaboot told reporters.
He was told there was a casting in Thailand, but instead was trained to scam other Chinese people, Thatchai said, adding he was not assaulted or abused.
Image via Weibo via New Straits Times
Wang has now been returned to Thailand
The case was widely shared on Chinese social media raising concerns that it could dent Thailand's hospitality and tourism industry, a key driver of Southeast Asia's second-largest economy and for which China is the main source market.
"We have to manage this well so it does not impact Thai tourism," Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said.
Last year, Thailand welcomed 35.55 million foreign arrivals with 6.74 million from China.
China's foreign ministry said it was in touch with its embassies overseas and would "continue to follow up on the progress of the incident".
Southeast Asia, especially border towns in Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, has become a hub for telecom and other online fraud, according to the United Nations, which says hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to work in scam centres.
Most of the trafficking victims were from Southeast Asian countries as well as China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, but others came from as far away as Africa and Latin America, according to the UN.
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