A Vietnamese man is offering a cash reward of 500,000 baht for information leading to the discovery of his missing sister, taken by pirates who attacked a vessel carrying asylum seekers to Nakhon Si Thammarat 34 years ago.
A cash reward of 500,000 baht is being offered by Vo Hoang Dao for information that helps him find his missing younger sister, Vo Hoang Thuy Ai, who would now be 48. (Photo by Trinai Jansrichol)
Vo Hoang Dao, 49, a Vietnamese man with US citizenship, filed a complaint with Pol Lt Col Taweesak Suathong, a police investigator at Chon Buri’s Pattaya police station, on Tuesday seeking help in finding Ms Vo Hoang Thuy Ai, who has been parted from the family for more than 30 years.
He told police that his parents, along with his four siblings and himself, had fled their house in Vietnam during the invasion of what was then Saigon by North Vietnamese soldiers. His family, along with other Vietnamese nationals, had boarded a vessel heading to Thailand on May 15, 1981, planning to seek asylum in a third country.
While en route to Nakhon Si Thammarat armed men on two fishing vessels had captured their boat and the 86 asylum seekers on board in the Gulf of Thailand. The pirates had made off with all their valuables and abducted eight young women, including his younger sister Thuy Ai, then 15.
The Vietnamese man said his family had only painful memories. When their vessel arrived in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Sichon district on May 17, 1981, all the remaining asylum seekers had been placed in the care of provincial authorities and later granted asylum in the United States.
He told police his family had searched continually for his missing sister, but without success.
Pol Lt Col Taweesak said Mr Dao opened a restaurant in the US after being given asylum. His family prospered and had travelled to Thailand several times in search for his missing sister, who would now be 48 years old.
They believed she was still alive and might be living in a coastal province or have married a Thai man.
Pol Lt Col Taweesak said anyone with information that may help should pass it on via mobile 081-9459398 ID-Line:taweesak-s or via Facebook/Taweesak Suathong. He confirmed that the Vietnamese family has offered a cash reward of 500,000 baht for information leading to the finding of the missing woman.
Vo Hoang Dao, 49, a Vietnamese man, files a complaint with Pol Lt Col Taweesak Suathong of Pattaya police station, seeking help in finding his missing sister. (Photo by Trinai Jansrichol)