More than 250 young people went missing last year, the highest in the last four years, according to a Mirror Foundation report.

According to the director of the Foundation's Missing Persons Information Center, 251 young people were reported missing to the foundation last year, 25% higher than the number in 2021.

One-hundred-fifty-seven of them, aged 11–15, were middle schoolers who were influenced by their friends or sexual drives, the report said. Some fled home due to family issues, it added.

Most of the cases that the foundation received involved women who reportedly suffered sexual assault or joined a trafficking circle, the director said.

The foundation received 70 reports from Bangkok, accounting for most of the missing persons cases. Other cases came from Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan (both 17 cases), Pathum Thani (16), Chon Buri, and Nakorn Pathom (both nine).

Sixty-one percent of the missing voluntarily fled home, while 21% had mental health problems or disabilities, it said. Only two cases last year involved kidnapping.

If parents think a child has gone missing, they can call the 1191 hotline.