On April 10th, a 19-year-old female student named Xiaoyang (pseudonym) from a university in Guangdong was invited by a “friend” to participate in the Songkran Festival in Thailand. Upon landing in Thailand, she was immediately taken captive and trafficked to a scam park in Myanmar. After her family paid a ransom of over 200,000 yuan (RMB), the park authorities refused to release her. The latest update indicates that they have preliminarily agreed to release her, and both sides are negotiating the terms for her handover.
According to Southern Metropolis Daily, at noon on April 23rd, Xiaoyang’s family stated that she could only communicate via voice calls and not video calls. They shared her location, but she was punished with beatings and handcuffed to a pillar when the location was disclosed. The family is understandably distressed about her well-being.
Various mainland Chinese media reports have revealed that Xiaoyang (pseudonym) is a 19-year-old freshman at a university in Guangdong. Recently, she was invited by a female “friend” to Thailand to celebrate the Songkran Festival without her family’s knowledge. On April 10th, she flew from Guangzhou to Bangkok, planning to return after a few days of sightseeing.
Upon landing in Thailand, the supposed “friend” who invited her did not show up. Instead, a man picked her up, and Xiaoyang was subsequently abducted. After being moved around for two days, she was taken to the Three Pagodas Pass area along the Thai-Myanmar border and sold to a scam park in Myanmar.
Around 1:30 a.m. on April 13th, Xiaoyang’s parents received feedback from her high school classmates, suggesting that she might be in trouble based on abnormal behavior during their WeChat chat. Her family immediately contacted her, and a man answered the call claiming to have bought Xiaoyang from a snakehead for 29,000 U-coins (a form of virtual currency), demanding a ransom of 30,000 U-coins (equivalent to over 200,000 yuan) for her release.
After pooling funds, her family transferred 30,000 U-coins to the perpetrator on the afternoon of April 13th. Upon receiving the money, the captor promised to release her “at any time.” Xiaoyang’s family contacted local friends in Myanmar to arrange for her retrieval but faced repeated delays.
On April 16th, the captor cited difficulties due to the Songkran Festival, delaying the handover; on April 18th, road closures were given as a reason for postponement until the 20th; on the 20th, departure procedures were blamed, pushing the release to the 22nd; and on the 22nd, they claimed the park was on lockdown, refusing to let her go.
After the incident was exposed, the captors offered to release her in exchange for stopping the news coverage. On the afternoon of April 23rd, Xiaoyang’s father informed mainland Chinese media that the captors had tentatively agreed to release her but did not provide specific details on her location, as negotiations are ongoing.
Xiaoyang’s father expressed that she is his only daughter, and the family would be devastated if something happened to her. He earnestly pleaded for urgent intervention from the society, relevant departments, and everyone to assist in bringing his daughter home safely.
On April 14th, the family reported the incident to the police in Guangdong, and a case was opened.