Chinese actor kidnapped from Thailand - return awakens hopes
Chinese actor kidnapped from Thailand - return awakens hopes
Wang Xing has lived in fear in the past few days. His head was shaved, he couldn't sleep and was in a strange place where his kidnappers forced him to type - the first phase of an apprenticeship for an unwanted role. The 31-year-old Chinese actor had flown to Bangkok, expecting a casting for a film. Instead, he was intercepted at the airport and brought to a fraud center in Myawaddy, a notorious center for cyber fraud in Myanmar.
The cruel fate of the victims
Wang is one hundred thousands of people who have been dragged into fraud companies - many companies from Chinese criminal syndicates. These fraud centers have risen in the regions of Myanmar and other parts of Southeast Asia broken in the regions of Myanmar and other parts of Southeast Asia in recent years. Victims are often attracted with the promise of well-paid jobs or other tempting options, just to be held against their will and forced to carry out online fraud stitches in highly guarded complexes. Former prisoners report that spanking and torture are the order of the day.
Wang's rescue and the pressure on Thailand
Wang sees itself as one of the lucky ones. On January 7th, just a few days after he was reported in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Thai police officers found him in Myawaddy and brought him back to Thailand without the details of the rescue operation. The safe return of the actor to China has caused hundreds of Chinese families to urge their government to help with the search for their relatives who consider them missing and who believe they are still being held in the fraud centers. Some missing people have been disappearing for months or even years.
fear for security in Thailand
Wangs Odyssey has also put pressure on Thailand. Chinese tourists express their fears of traveling to the Southeast Asian nation on social media - many have canceled their trips - which is considerably frustrated by Thailand's efforts to rebuild the tourism sector damaged by the pandemic. Thailand is one of his largest and most important market.
public call to help
Shortly after Wang's rescue, a joint petition was viral by the families of 174 in Myanmar in Myanmar in the social media, in which the government is asked to do more to bring it home. "We do not intend to bring about a confrontation; we only hope to attract the government's attention and to intensify and accelerate the measures to combat," says the petition.
despair under the bereaved
An online document with references to the missing persons has expanded from the original 174 to more than 1,200 victims. One of the documented cases is Zhang Huizhen, a 24-year-old graduate who was missing during a trip to Thailand and Cambodia in October. After more than 70 days, her family still has not received any news about her and turned to both the police and the Chinese embassy in Thailand.
The dynamics on social media
The return of Wang gave the families hope that are still looking for their lost relatives. "(Wang's rescue) gave us ordinary people a glimmer of hope instead of total despair," said Zhang's mother, Zhang Yuanhao. She hopes that the media can help find their loved ones.
disturbing developments for tourism
The headlines around Wang's case could not come at a less favorable time for Thai tourism operators who had expected an increase in arrivals during the upcoming holidays. Reports of a sudden increase in flight cancellations from China to Thailand fuel the concerns about security among the Chinese travelers, which in turn could endanger the efforts of reviving the tourism sector. Prominent artists have also canceled concerts from security concerns.
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