Abducted Chinese actor’s rescue from scam centre spurs families of those missing to act

But since then, Mr He has only received one video call that lasted less than two minutes from his son in October 2024. His son had simply told him that “all was fine” before hanging up quickly. He has been uncontactable since. His son’s friend is also missing, Mr He said.

Local police who tracked the call said it originated from Bangkok, a lead which led Mr He to believe that his son had been abducted and placed in a fraud farm.

Mr He said that his son was not drawn to any high salary but “simply wanted a job to help out with household expenses”.

“He is a good boy. He decided to go because he found it hard to land a job here,” Mr He said, refusing to disclose any more personal details for fear of putting his son’s safety at risk.

Another parent whose son has been missing since November 2024 told ST that he hopes that the authorities can work quickly to save other victims.

“This case gives me hope that my son can return home safely. I really hope that the authorities can help the others who are stuck, whether they are a popular actor or not,” said Mr Yang, who is from south-western Sichuan province. “A life is a life.”

He declined to give his full name for fear of risking his son’s safety.

News of actor Wang Xing’s disappearance in Thailand made headlines in China after his girlfriend posted a plea on popular microblogging platform Weibo on Jan 5.

“We need to borrow the power of the internet to amplify our voices,” she said in

the post that was later re-posted by some of China’s top-billing celebrities, including Lay Zhang.

Lay Zhang, who has 50 million followers on Weibo, was the main actor of No More Bets, a 2023 blockbuster warning the Chinese about the dangers of fraud farms in South-east Asia. 

In pictures released by the authorities after his rescue, Mr Wang is shown with his head shaven. He was reportedly due to fly back to China late on Jan 10.

Following his rescue, Thai National Police Inspector-General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot on Jan 9 said his country is investigating two more cases of Chinese nationals going missing there.

One is a male model named Yang Zeqi, who went missing in late December under circumstances similar to Mr Wang’s, and another is a young woman named Wu Jiaqi, whose case was brought to the attention of Thai police on Jan 9.

In Hong Kong, former Yau Tsim Mong district council vice-chairman Andy Yu Tak-po told ST he has received appeals from six Hong Kong families about people trapped in South-east Asian countries for forced labour since September 2024.

On Jan 8, Mr Yu accompanied a man whose family member is one of the missing six to the Thai consulate in Hong Kong to submit a joint petition for help. Mr Yu consolidates these cases and uses his political experience to engage the Hong Kong authorities.

“After the news of Wang Xing’s rescue, the families realised that it could actually be done in three days, so they were quite urgent

about sending in a new petition,” said Mr Yu.

“This time, (the response) seems quite positive as the Thai deputy consul assured us that all cases are treated equally, and they will provide assistance,” he said.

“Previously, when the families sought help from the Thai consulate, they were told that since the missing people are

not Thai nationals, the request would not be processed.”

These six missing Hong Kongers are largely young people in their 20s and 30s who are tech-savvy and speak good English, said Mr Yu.

“For normal people, like our residents in Hong Kong, it’s a struggle because they hope they can get help, but they also know they’re just nobodies.

“In Wang Xing’s case, he is a popular person who got a lot of government and media attention. We don’t want it to be a different situation, but the fact is, it’s a different situation,” he said.

The families have urged

the Hong Kong authorities to ask Beijing for help to speed up rescue efforts, he said.

In November 2024, China’s Ministry of Public Security said that China and Myanmar have been working together

and have arrested more than 53,000 Chinese suspects involved in fraud.

The ministry had declared at that time that all large-scale telecom fraud centres located near the China-Myanmar border in northern Myanmar had been wiped out.

In a press conference on Jan 10, the Public Security Ministry said its campaign has achieved significant results

so far, leading to a sharp decline in telecom fraud cases and related losses nationwide.

The ministry has been involved in cross-border law enforcement cooperation to fight telecom fraud originating from northern Myanmar since July 2023, following an uproar on Chinese social media. Netizens had expressed their frustrations

that the Chinese government was not doing enough to help families rescue their loved ones.

Those rescued from fraud farms in Myanmar told ST that they have been working to raise public awareness on how such

farms operate and to discourage the Chinese from being lured

to work overseas or even other provinces. Some have become rescuers themselves.

Mr Hao Zhendong, who was held captive in

a Myanmar fraud farm for 59 days in 2023, told ST that “a few thousand people” have reached out to him for help to find their missing family members.

Mr Hao, who has 147,000 followers on Douyin, China’s TikTok, said: “It’s very difficult. The most successful rescue cases so far have required victims to send their locations to family members.”

“I then help contact the Chinese military, who will go and rescue them,” he said. He declined to go into details of his time in Myanmar, and would only say that he suffered nightmares for a month after returning home. “My time there was so bleak I wanted to die,” he said.

But, for the majority of victims, Mr Hao doesn’t see any other way to help them.

“That’s the hardest part for families, to wait for news. There’s really nothing they can do in the meantime.”