
BANGKOK — Three Chinese students who were lured from Bangkok and held for a 1.5 million baht ransom last week have been found in Tak Province, near Myanmar border. Investigators believe the perpetrators worked as part of an organized operation that included Thai nationals.
The three Chinese students are: Mr. Chi, age 18, who entered Thailand twice – first on October 29, 2023, at Suvarnabhumi Airport with a student visa, and second on October 10, 2024; Mr. Yu, age 20, who first entered Thailand on October 28, 2023, at Don Mueang Airport with a student visa; and Mrs. Sun, age 18, who entered Thailand three times on tourist visas, most recently arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport on October 26, 2023.
On October 22, Police Major General Noppasilp Poolsawat, Deputy Commander of the Metropolitan Police, and his team announced updates on the case. All three students were found safe after being lured away on October 17.
Investigation revealed that on October 17 at around 6:00 a.m., the three students called a Grab car to travel from their university to Don Mueang Airport, arriving at Mae Sot Airport at 10:00 a.m. They then checked into a resort in Mae Sot District, Tak Province.

At 5:00 p.m., a pickup truck picked up all three victims to take them to an area opposite Phop Phra district, Tak province. At 9:00 p.m., their friends received messages asking for help and notified their teachers before reporting to police at Thammasala Metropolitan Police Station.
The police operation team, working with Metropolitan Police Division 7, coordinated with relevant agencies and received information from locals in Phop Phra district that the three victims were found in a forest area in Moo 6, Mae Tao sub-district, Mae Sot, Tak Province. The victims were taken to Tak Immigration Office for physical and mental health examinations.
All three were physically unharmed with no signs of injury. They were placed under protection, and the Tak Provincial Social Development and Human Security Office took them to a shelter while contacting their relatives.
During questioning, the three stated that while waiting for their semester to start, they looked for work. A friend in China informed them about a job delivering goods from Tak province to Bangkok for 100,000 baht. They believed this offer without knowing what they would be delivering, communicating with the criminals via WeChat before being kidnapped and taken to an office in Myanmar.

At that location, 6-7 armed men threatened them with violence, demanding they contact their parents to transfer 300,000 yuan ($42,130) or approximately 1,500,000 baht for their release. If they didn’t pay, they would be sent to a call center gang in Myawaddy, Myanmar.
The three victims tried to negotiate the amount. Mrs. Sun contacted her mother in China, who transferred 100,000 yuan ($14,045). Before the other two victims could transfer money, the criminals released them, and they were found by police.
Police Major General Noppasilp believes the criminals worked as an organized operation that included Thai nationals. The investigation is ongoing, particularly focusing on finding the Thai person who drove the pickup truck that transported the three victims from the resort to the forest area in Phop Phra district, Tak province.
_______