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The Chinese Embassy in Thailand said on Saturday that Thai authorities had informed the Chinese side that the four Chinese nationals who went missing after arriving in Thailand on May 3 had been found on Friday and properly accommodated. 

The embassy expressed relief over the development, thanked the Thai government and other relevant parties for their efforts, and said it would continue to follow up on the matter, according to a release from its official WeChat account.

According to China News Service, the case first drew public attention on May 16, when a woman surnamed Miao from Kunming, Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, posted a video online seeking help for the missing of her husband. In the video, she said her husband, surnamed Zhang, and three others had lost contact after traveling to Thailand on May 3 to inspect a project.

China News Service reported that Miao’s husband and the other three travelers arrived in Bangkok on May 3 according to their original itinerary. However, an unexpected change occurred that evening when their overseas contacts abruptly altered the schedule, ordering them to scrap the planned trip to Lampang Province the next day and drive through the night instead.

At around 7 am on May 4, Miao’s husband reportedly sent her a location pin that did not match their planned destination, raising her suspicions. Around the same time, another member of the group, surnamed Chang, sent his girlfriend a five-second video filmed in what appeared to be a remote, desolate area, with no buildings or people visible except for the vehicle they were traveling in. Shortly afterward, Miao’s husband’s phone was switched off, and the remaining members of the group also became unreachable, according to media reports. 

Faced with the sudden loss of contact, Miao reported the case to the Kunming Public Security Bureau in Yunnan Province on the evening of May 4. Police accepted the case immediately and quickly launched an investigation, per China News Service.

The four individuals were suspected of having been taken to Myanmar. On May 17, staff members from the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar contacted Miao and told her that any new developments would be promptly communicated to the families, according to the report.


Global Times