Wang Xing (white shirt) went to Thailand after being rescued
A Chinese actor lost contact with his family after traveling to Thailand. Two days after his disappearance, his girlfriend posted a message asking for help on the social platform Weibo, which quickly received a lot of attention.
According to Thai media reports, the actor named Wang Xing was rescued on Tuesday ( January 7 ) . But a large number of similar requests for help subsequently emerged on Chinese social media.
" We have no choice but to use the power of the internet to amplify our voices, " Wang's girlfriend Jia Jia wrote on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on January 5 .
She said in the post that her boyfriend Wang Xing had been missing at the Thai-Myanmar border since January 3.
She said that Wang Xing, whose stage name is " Xingxing " , went to Thailand to film a movie. After arriving at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport, he took a car arranged by the actor . The request went viral after being shared by some of China's biggest stars, including singer Zhang Yixing and actress Qin Lan.
31 -year-old Wang Xing has not only attracted national attention, but also the attention of the government. Chinese media reported that the Thai police negotiated with the Myanmar side many times, and only then rescued him from a fraud center on the Myanmar border on the afternoon of January 7.
Thai police said Wang Xing was found in a town on the Thai-Myanmar border where a cyber fraud gang was based and was taken to Thailand for questioning. He is believed to be a victim of human trafficking.
Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, director general of the Royal Thai Police , said Wang Xing told police he was lured to Thailand by a major entertainment company under the guise of a job opportunity. Police believe he was taken to a fraud park in Myanmar to participate in a telecommunications fraud operation targeting Chinese people. The Chinese Embassy in Thailand also confirmed that it had received a notification from the Thai side about Wang Xing's rescue, and Beijing " expressed gratitude " to the Thai government and all parties for their efforts .
But this swift and mysterious rescue also raised questions about the fate of those still trapped in the fraud center, and the case forced people to realize that telecommunications fraud, a criminal enterprise that drags thousands of people into it, is still thriving.
50 Chinese citizens trapped in the same place with him .
who may be trapped in the camps have started a petition urging the government to launch a wider rescue operation. An online file named " Star Homecoming Project " was quickly created and forwarded to list relatives and friends who had been deceived across China. As of press time, more than a thousand cases of people being deceived into telecommunications fraud dens in Myanmar have been uploaded. BBC reporters reviewed the list and found that most of the missing persons were between 20 and 40 years old, including minors and people over 60 years old.
In the " Missing Contact " column, many of these cases entered through Thailand and then lost contact with their families. When the next news came, they were already in the Myanmar online fraud center and demanded ransom from their families.
The number of people in this online file is still growing in real time, but BBC Chinese cannot independently verify its authenticity.
50 Chinese citizens trapped in the same place with him .
" We are eager to know whether the other Chinese citizens who were with him have been rescued, " read one of the most-liked comments on Weibo.
“ Other people’s lives are lives too. ”
The story of Wang Xing's disappearance
January 3 , Wang Xing disappeared in the Thai border city of Mae Sot . Myawaddy County in Myanmar, which is only separated from here by a river, is controlled by the local armed " Karen National Army" (KNA ) . It is considered a safe haven for criminal groups and is home to many different fraud parks, among which the " KK Park " is the most notorious.
of thousands of people are believed to have been voluntarily or coerced into criminal activity in the region, including scams , False investment schemes or gambling. Many allegations say those lured have been subjected to abuse and forced labour . Wang Xing flew to Bangkok to meet with an actor he had contacted on WeChat. According to Thai police, the actor claimed to represent a large Thai entertainment company . The actor later told the media that he had been in Thailand to film a movie around 2018 and didn't expect anything different this time. But he was picked up by car and taken to Myanmar, where he had his head shaved and received training on how to conduct phone scams. His girlfriend wrote on Weibo that she and her brother had previously tried to track him down and contact the police to intervene, but with " little success " : Chinese police have not yet filed a case, and the Chinese Embassy in Thailand has only suggested that Wang's family seek assistance from the Mae Sot police.
and the Chinese Embassy told the media that they took the case very seriously. The next day, Thai and Chinese officials announced that Wang Xing had been rescued.
first public appearance with Thai police but made no comments, leaving it to officials to explain what happened.
Few details about the rescue operation were released, and officials did not even say which fraud center he was being held in . released , according to a source who wished to remain anonymous and has rescued victims from scam centers. He told the BBC that these scam centres are desperate to avoid attracting attention. This may also mean that releasing Wang is a better option for the fraud center, as it can avoid the risk of exposure to the entire group due to his disappearance.
China also seems more eager to end the discussion about Wang's case, and to convince its citizens that the government has done enough and that fraud centers in border areas are no longer a big problem . As early as 2023 , China and ethnic minority rebel groups launched a joint operation to try to shut down scam centers in Shan State, Myanmar . But local non-governmental organisations ( NGOs ) and independent aid workers told the BBC that scams are on the rise and are spreading to even more remote areas.
Thailand's response
Today, the border region between Myanmar and Thailand has become a major hub for international fraud, operating among armed groups that are constantly vying for power.
New scams have been set up in the southern town of Myawaddy, near the Thai border, where the worst cases of forced labor and other abuses are reported.
This has put enormous pressure on Thailand, whose economy relies heavily on tourism, especially tourists from China.
Wang Xing's incident has caused some Chinese to worry about whether it is safe to travel to Thailand.
" It seems that after Wang's incident, fewer and fewer people will go to Southeast Asia, including Thailand, " wrote one popular Weibo post.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Tuesday that the government was doing its best to mitigate the impact of the case on Thailand's reputation as a tourist destination . 9th , she told the media again in Phuket that Thailand should be prevented from becoming a transit point for crime . She said that after the Wang Xing incident, Thailand needs to strengthen and improve relevant laws and regulations and crack down on related criminal incidents . On the same day, the Thai police also accepted an exclusive interview with China's official media Xinhua News Agency. The Inspector General of the Thai National Police, Tachachai, said that the rescue process of Wang Xing was fast because Wang Xing basically did not stop after leaving Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, and the vehicle he took clearly went straight to the border.
" Some cases are more complex, such as changing vehicles, changing people, changing directions, etc., which makes tracking more difficult. "
Aftermath
On Thursday, Wang Xing's description of not having enough to eat and not having time to go to the toilet in Myanmar topped the trending search list on the social app Weibo, with many netizens expressing sympathy . deceived and offered job opportunities in Thailand. Thai police are reportedly investigating the disappearance of another Chinese model at the Thai-Myanmar border . At a press conference held by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security on Friday (January 10), the Ministry of Public Security spokesman Zhang Ming said that China will fully launch international law enforcement cooperation against overseas fraud dens, " persistently staring at and chasing after them, resolutely destroying overseas fraud dens, and hunting down major fraud fugitives . "
The Actors Committee of the China Radio and Television Association issued a statement on its WeChat official account on Tuesday, saying that it has noticed that " many actors have been deceived by suspected fraud organizations to go abroad on the pretext of filming TV dramas and other jobs " and that " personal and property safety has been greatly damaged . "
The rescued Wang Xing is one of the lucky ones among the tens of thousands of people trapped in the huge fraud network.
The Chinese New Year is approaching. According to past practices, a large number of Chinese tourists will travel to Thailand. The Thai government is eager to emphasize that the country is a safe tourist destination. The Thai police also insisted that no Thais were involved in Wang Xing's trafficking activities.
Wang Xing also endorsed when facing the 'reporter': " Thailand is still quite safe, don't worry, I will come here again if I have the chance in the future, thank you everyone. "