In a concerning incident, 34-year-old Chinese mainland photographer Han Shaojie has gone missing in Thailand. His family received a voice message from him stating that his phone usage was restricted, prompting them to rush to Bangkok in search of him. Netizens fear he may have fallen into a phone scam trap.
Since October 6, Ms. Han, sister of Han Shaojie from Wuxiang County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, has been publicly seeking help as her brother went missing a day after landing in Thailand for a photography assignment.
Multiple mainland media outlets reported that 34-year-old Han Shaojie is a freelance photographer registered in Wuxiang County, Changzhi City, Shanxi, and has been residing in Beijing for a long time.
Ms. Han posted on social media, mentioning that Han Shaojie had participated in filming a documentary for CCTV.
According to posts from Han Shaojie’s friends, he used to be in the armed police and became a photographer after retiring, having been deceived before. A few months ago, Han Shaojie contacted his friend to inform him about a travel and shooting project with CCTV, inviting him to join. The friend mentioned that it seems this project lured him in, under the guise of CCTV, to Thailand where he then disappeared.
On October 7th, when they filed a report at a Thai police station, Ms. Han’s family received a WeChat voice message from Han Shaojie, claiming that he had been robbed and sold after falling asleep in a black car, unable to locate himself and being restricted from using his phone.
On October 8, they received another call from someone claiming to be Han Shaojie, demanding 150,000 yuan for his release if they wanted him back home.
The family revealed that prior to the incident, Han Shaojie received a high-paying job offer to shoot in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, with a total travel duration of 6 days including 4 days of work.
On October 9, Ms. Han expressed her deep worry regarding her brother’s disappearance and their safety while searching for him in Thailand. She mentioned the distress it has caused the family, especially considering their parents’ health conditions.
Concerned netizens fear that Han Shaojie may have fallen victim to a telephone scam operation notorious in Southeast Asia, particularly operated by Chinese nationals, involving crimes ranging from telecom fraud to forced prostitution, surrogacy, blood trafficking, and organ harvesting.
The issue of telephone scams in Southeast Asia has been previously highlighted with cases like Chinese actor Wang Xing being kidnapped to Myanmar’s Myawaddy park in January 2025, shedding light on the prevalent criminal activities orchestrated by Chinese nationals, suspected to have ties to the Chinese government.
Despite efforts to combat telephone scams and pacify the situation, recent reports suggest a resurgence of fraudulent activities in the Karen State of Myanmar, near the Thai border, reflecting the re-establishment of dismantled fraudulent sites and emergence of new hotspots for telephone scams.
In a video shared by a Chinese anti-fraud blogger, abandoned phones allegedly belonging to Chinese youths kidnapped for fraudulent activities have been found near the village of Jiaoke in Myawaddy. The discovery raises concerns about the extent of the telephone scam operations and the victims involved, hinting at a more extensive network than previously acknowledged.
Cases of Chinese individuals going missing after arriving in Thailand have been on the rise, such as the incident involving Shanghai’s 33-year-old music teacher, Wang Qi, who disappeared after flying to Bangkok on September 24. His phone’s IP address indicated his presence in southern Karen State of Myanmar after going missing. Despite his return to Shanghai on October 7, questions still linger over the circumstances of his disappearance.