A 17-year-old woman has been reported missing in Pattaya after telling friends she was due to meet an older foreigner at Central Pattaya shopping mall to watch a movie. Nong Tong disappeared at the weekend and has not been contacted by friends or relatives since, according to her sister, Pinanong Lansettha. Her family has reported her missing to police and launched an online appeal for information. Ms Lansettha said the family did not know the identity or nationality of the man her sister planned to meet. "We don't know who she was meeting or where he was from," she told the Daily Mail. "I think she met him online through an app." Family and friends appeal for information In a social-media post, Ms Lansettha asked people to help find her younger sister, saying she had been unable to contact her for three days. "None of her close friends or family have been able to reach her or see her," she wrote. "I'm very worried about her. Please help keep an eye out for her." Friends said her sudden disappearance was out of character. One said Nong Tong normally spoke with her every day but was no longer online. Another local woman said she had seen the teenager with foreigners at the Stone House pub at around the time she vanished, recalling that their tables had been beside each other. Ms Lansettha said her sister did not work in Pattaya's bars or on the street because of her age, but worked independently and had gone to meet an older foreigner before contact was lost. Anyone with information is being urged by the family to contact them or police. Disappearance follows Pattaya murder charge The case comes weeks after another 17-year-old, Tunchanok Donhomla, was found dead in a suitcase beside railway tracks in Pattaya. Australian truck driver Simon Carman, 46, has been charged over her death and is being held at Pattaya Remand Prison. He denies murdering Ms Donhomla, saying he acted in self-defence after she allegedly pulled a knife and demanded money. Police allege Carman met Ms Donhomla on the street, took her to his condominium, strangled her and put her body in a holdall. CCTV reportedly showed him riding a scooter the following evening with a suitcase strapped to the back. He was arrested at Bangkok airport carrying a Jetstar boarding pass. Police allege he was attempting to flee on a flight to Perth, while Carman said he was returning to Australia to collect a replacement bank card and intended to come back to Thailand within days to "sort it all out". Like Ms Donhomla, Nong Tong had travelled to Pattaya from a rural province seeking work. In both cases, friends raised the alarm after the teenagers stopped answering calls and messages. Pattaya's informal nightlife economy Prostitution is illegal in Thailand but remains widely tolerated in Pattaya's nightlife areas, where many women meet foreign tourists for work. The two teenagers were said to have worked independently rather than through bars, where age checks can make employment difficult for under aged. Picture courtesy of Daily Mail Related story Aussie-faces-murder-charges-in-Pattaya Join the discussion? 16 July 2026
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