Missing Chinese model returns home safely
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Missing Chinese model returns home safely

Police decline to confirm speculation that Yang Zeqi had been taken by Myanmar-based scam gang

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Yang Zeqi, a 25-year-old Chinese model, is back in China after vanishing along the Thai-Myanmar border in late December, his family and police have confirmed.
Yang Zeqi, a 25-year-old Chinese model, is back in China after vanishing along the Thai-Myanmar border in late December, his family and police have confirmed.

A Chinese model who had been missing for almost a month has been located and safely returned to his country, Thai police said on Saturday.

The Chinese embassy confirmed that Yang Zeqi, 25, was back home, said Pol Gen Chatchai Pitaneelaboot, inspector-general with the Royal Thai Police Office, who was in Mae Sot district of Tak on Friday.   

On Friday, Yang’s father had asked national police chief Kittharath Punpetch to speed up efforts to find his son, who was lured to Thailand with the offer of a role in a film.

After landing in Bangkok, Yang was driven to the Thai-Myanmar border in Tak province on Dec 21. His last contact with his family was on Dec 29 when he made a video call to his mother. He appeared stressed and was not holding a phone, said his father, who believes his son’s captors had staged the call.

Lawyer Ratchapon Sirisakorn, who set up the meeting between Yang Hai Tao and Thai police, said he received confirmation from the family that their son had been rescued and safely returned to China. The family would send a letter to thank the Chinese embassy and Thai authorities, he said.

Yang Zeqi posted a video on social media on Friday after arriving back in China.

“Reporting safety right after touchdown,” he said in a post accompanying the video.

Police have not disclosed any details about how or where Yang was found. They also have not confirmed speculation that Yang had fallen victim to one of the notorious scam gangs across the border in Myawaddy, as in the case of Chinese actor Wang Xing.

The actor was found unharmed, but with his head shaved, after going missing earlier this month in Tak province. Thai police said they believed Wang was a victim of human trafficking. (Story continues below)

Pol Gen Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, the Royal Thai Police inspector-general, visits the Ban Huai Hin Fon security checkpoint in Mae Sot district of Tak on Friday to ask officials to screen the entry of people to prevent human trafficking and transnational crime linked to call centre scams. (Photo: Royal Thai Police Office Facebook page)

Pol Gen Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, the Royal Thai Police inspector-general, visits the Ban Huai Hin Fon security checkpoint in Mae Sot district of Tak on Friday to ask officials to screen the entry of people to prevent human trafficking and transnational crime linked to call centre scams. (Photo: Royal Thai Police Office Facebook page)

China’s state security ministry also said in a statement that Yang Zheqi and several other victims had been rescued and returned to China.

The statement said Chinese and Thai police had jointly arrested 12 suspects linked to cross-border crimes, following the disappearance and entrapment of several Chinese nationals, including Wang Xing.

The ministry vowed to keep up a “high-pressure crackdown” on cross-border telecoms network fraud. The scam centres in Myanmar are mostly run by Chinese nationals and most of their victims are Chinese.

The complexes in Myawaddy are protected by Karen rebel groups that are at odds with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the main group fighting the Myanmar army in the area.

The Wang case received huge media attention in China and has caused Thai officials to step up efforts to assure Chinese people that it is safe to visit Thailand.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has stressed that tourism in Thailand should remain safe, adding that it is a government priority to uphold the country’s reputation.

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