Chinese couple beg for help in Bangkok amid son’s trafficking fears

[webfact]

Photo courtesy of South China Morning Post

 

by Puntid Tantivangphaisal

A distraught Chinese couple has made a desperate plea outside the Chinese embassy in Bangkok, seeking help to find their missing son, suspected to be a victim of human trafficking in Southeast Asia.

 

The couple, 64 year old Sun Maoxing and his wife 60 year old Wang Weiju, travelled from China’s Shandong province to Thailand on their first-ever trip abroad, hoping to locate their only son, 32 year old Sun Baochao.

 

“He is our only son. We cannot live without him. Please save my son.”

 

Sun Baochao’s last known contact with his parents was during his mother’s funeral in April last year. Since then, the family has only received sporadic messages via WeChat, including vague requests for money. Wang also reported receiving three calls from her son’s account but the caller was a woman speaking broken Mandarin.

Thai police confirmed Sun arrived in Bangkok on January 1, taking a taxi from Suvarnabhumi Airport but no further trace of him has been found. Embassy staff have requested the couple submit case documents but offered no updates.

 

“The embassy said they’d contact me when there’s news, but they have nothing right now.”

 

The case underscores the growing crisis of human trafficking in Southeast Asia, where victims are often lured by fake job offers and coerced into working in scam operations, especially along the Myanmar border.

 

Their story parallels that of 40 year old Wang Yaxin who is searching for his missing 28 year old cousin last located in Thailand’s Tak province. Wang fears his cousin fell victim to a loan scam.

 

The issue recently made headlines after Chinese actor Wang Xing was rescued from a Myanmar scam compound. Wang, like many victims, was lured under false pretences, held captive, and forced into fraudulent schemes, reported Hindustan Times.

 

The Thailand-Myanmar border region, particularly areas like Mae Sot in Tak province, has become a hotspot for such criminal activities.

 

Criminal syndicates exploit these border areas to traffic individuals into scam operations, often involving forced labour and severe mistreatment.

 

Reports indicate that over 6,000 individuals, including approximately 3,900 Chinese nationals, are held captive in Myanmar’s human trafficking networks, enduring physical and psychological abuse, according to The Star.

 

Source: The Thaiger 

-- 2025-01-15

 

 

[Gottfrid]

27 minutes ago, webfact said:

Reports indicate that over 6,000 individuals, including approximately 3,900 Chinese nationals, are held captive in Myanmar’s human trafficking networks, enduring physical and psychological abuse, according to The Star.

6 000 individuals!? That´s a huge number, and they can´t locate, find and track down these people? Seems very strange. It must be much money in the bribes. Usually they can locate 1 robber, 1 murderer or even a gang of 6 that stole a wallet from a tourist.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

A distraught Chinese couple has made a desperate plea outside the Chinese embassy in Bangkok, seeking help to find their missing son, suspected to be a victim of human trafficking in Southeast Asia.

Ohhh dear the image of Thailand as a safe destination is taking a battering lately.

[thesetat]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

but they have nothing right now.”

then why are they claiming trafficking was done? 

This is Thailand. That man could have easily gotten lost in some Thai girls arms and not wanting family to know. They have nothing to suggest trafficking. 

In China though, many videos are coming out in their social media telling about how unsafe it is for the Chinese to travel to Thailand.