Police are stepping up efforts to rescue a Chinese woman believed to have been kidnapped and held for ransom by a compatriot.
Ruimin: Held for 'B5m ransom'
Another Chinese national named Cai Boxuan alerted police at Bang Rak station yesterday that his friend Yan Ruimin, 38, was missing.
The last time he spoke to her was on June 30, when she told him that she would go to Phuket on July 2.
He feared that she might be in danger, so he decided to alert the police.
Her relatives then arrived in Thailand and asked the Chinese embassy for help, a police source said, adding that someone later contacted them and told the relatives that he had abducted her and demanded a ransom of 1 million yuan, about 5 million baht, for her release.
They were also told not to inform police or the Chinese embassy otherwise he would not guarantee her safety, the source said.
Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) commissioner Pol Lt Gen Thiti Sangsawang has ordered MPB investigators to work with the Immigration Bureau to rescue Ms Yan and arrest the suspect.
The source said the suspect had been identified as Qingyan Ma, and a check found that he had rented a car on June 30.
The source said that on July 1, Ms Yan was seen getting into the car at Time Square on Soi Sukhumvit 12. Security camera footage showed the car heading to Soi Sukhumvit 16.
The following day, the car left Soi Sukhumvit 16 and headed towards Chon Buri.
About 2am on July 3, the car appeared in Chachoengsao before Ms Yan's telephone signal was cut off in an area near a public park close to Wat Sothon Wararam Worawihan.
The suspect later checked out of his hotel in Si Lom and returned the rental car before travelling to Suvarnabhumi airport and catching a flight to Hong Kong in the afternoon of July 3, the source said.