Chinese actor goes missing on Thai-Myanmar border

(ECNS) -- A woman posted on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Sunday evening, stating that her boyfriend Wang Xing, an actor, had gone missing in Meso, a county on the Thailand-Myanmar border, three days prior.

According to Wang's girlfriend Jia Jia, Wang was invited to shoot a movie in Thailand.

Wang played roles in some popular Chinese dramas including Tale of Rose.

The actor departed from Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Thursday evening and arrived in Bangkok, Thailand early on Friday. He then boarded a vehicle arranged by the production team.

During this time, Wang kept in touch with his girlfriend and located the vehicle's position until noon on Friday, when he went missing.

His girlfriend Jia Jia immediately reported the incident to Shanghai police and sought help from the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok and the Chinese Consulate General in Chiang Mai.

Staff from the Chinese Embassy in Thailand said that according to the information currently provided by Wang's girlfriend, the location where he went missing is within the jurisdiction of the Chinese Consulate General in Chiang Mai and that it has been in contact with the family and would continue to follow up on the case according to relevant regulations.

Some Chinese citizens have been lured into Myanmar to engage in telecommunications and internet fraud and in turn are forced to target Chinese citizens. Some were tricked there and held for millions in ransom.

Numerous articles, news items and posts regarding telecom fraud have been all the buzz on social media in recent years.

One of the most extreme cases involved a doctoral student being lured to Myanmar and was rescued a year later.

Other Chinese have told of the inhumane treatment they were subjected to when held captive and forced to work for fraud gangs in Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries.

The hit film No More Bets released last summer, which focuses on telecom fraud, increased public awareness about typical and widespread scams. However, victims continue to emerge due to the evolution of the industry.

In a news release in November last year, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said that law enforcement cooperation and joint action between China and Myanmar have led to the arrest of over 53,000 Chinese nationals suspected of telecom fraud since 2023.