Credited from: BANGKOKPOST
A 23-year-old Chinese national, surnamed Zhong, was rescued in Thailand after being tricked into traveling for a magazine photoshoot and subsequently trafficked to Myanmar. The rescue operation was a collaborative effort involving various parties, although specific details about the rescue were not disclosed by China's embassy in Bangkok, according to Channel News Asia and Bangkok Post.
Zhong had reportedly accepted a job offer from a former employer, who misled him about the nature of work in Thailand. After arriving in Bangkok on June 9, he made a video call to his sister on June 13 from a location in Myanmar, revealing that he had been lured and was frightened. His sister subsequently raised awareness about his situation on Weibo, which prompted efforts from authorities in both China and Thailand to locate him, as detailed by South China Morning Post.
The Chinese embassy has issued strong warnings to citizens about the dangers of accepting "high-paying job" offers overseas, highlighting that appropriate work permits are necessary for employment in Thailand. This caution comes amidst rising concerns regarding human trafficking networks that have reportedly victimized hundreds of thousands, with victims often forced into illegal work within scam compounds located in Southeast Asia, as corroborated by Bangkok Post and Channel News Asia.
The rise in job scams targeting Chinese nationals echoes also an earlier case in January, where a Chinese actor was similarly duped and transported to a scam operation in Myanmar. Following that incident, which gained significant media attention, China and Thailand established a coordination center to combat these crimes, as reported by South China Morning Post and Bangkok Post.