China’s embassy issues fresh Thailand travel alert over kidnappings, job scams

China's embassy in Thailand has warned citizens to carefully plan their trips and pay extra attention to transport security following a string of high-profile kidnappings targeting Chinese nationals.

Online influencers and artists were also advised to remain vigilant against high-paying job scams operating in Thailand in the latest such warning issued on Friday.

There have been a number of high-profile incidents in recent months in which online celebrities and travellers were kidnapped in Thailand and trafficked to scam syndicates in Myanmar.

The Bangkok embassy urged travellers to "pay attention to transport arranged by others" and "plan their itinerary and choose licensed transport and legal operators", while being "careful not to take any free rides from acquaintances or strangers" alike.

Individuals should also refuse sudden changes to venues or travel routes and keep their families informed of their whereabouts, Friday's notice posted to the embassy website said.

While the embassy issued a similar warning in April, its latest advisory highlighted particular concern over the growing number of entertainers and online influencers being lured to Thailand and trafficked.

The latest statement also gave detailed warnings about the use of transport in Thailand.

According to Thai media reports, a 30-year-old Thai man arrested on Oct 10 in Tak province along the Myanmar border is suspected of being part of a trafficking ring that lured three Chinese nationals to Thailand with fake job offers before transporting them to the border area.

Transnational criminal networks are known to operate multibillion-dollar scam compounds along the Thai-Myanmar border, using false high-paying job advertisements to entice foreign victims into forced labour, human trafficking and online fraud operations.

Several scams targeting live-streamers and performance artists have used fake invites to shoots and auditions to trap victims, including a high-profile case last year where a Chinese actor named Wang Xing was lured under the guise of a filming project and subsequently trafficked.

Earlier this month, a 34-year-old Chinese photographer went missing after travelling to Bangkok for a shooting job. His family, after receiving a ransom demand while searching for him in Thailand, reported the abduction to Chinese and Thai authorities.

In another case, an urgent social media post on Oct 1 alerted the public to the disappearance of a Shanghai music teacher, who went missing in Thailand on Sept 25.

In August, The Beijing News reported that a Chinese tourist was abducted in Thailand after getting into a vehicle she mistook for that of her tour guide. She was freed only after shouting for help at a police checkpoint.

All of these individuals have reportedly returned to China with the help of the embassy in Bangkok.

Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said in June that the forecast for Chinese tourist arrivals this year had been revised down to around 7 million, from an initial estimate of 9 million.

Safety concerns had become Thailand's primary challenge in the Chinese market, as they directly affected travel decisions, he said, adding: "Such stories have spread quickly across Chinese social media and short-video platforms, further hurting Thailand's image as a safe destination."

Wang Xing's story remains one of the most prominent cases of a Chinese national being lured to Thailand and trapped in a human trafficking pipeline. A telecoms fraud syndicate lured the actor to Thailand in January with the offer of a fake filming project, then forcibly moved him to a scam compound in Myanmar.

According to a documentary broadcast earlier this year by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Wang was resold across three different scam operations within just four days before Chinese embassy officials successfully mediated his release.

Though safely back in China, he is still saddled with massive online loans he was forced to take out while captive in Thailand and Myanmar.

The high-profile case dealt a severe blow to Chinese tourism to Thailand throughout 2025, with visitor demand only beginning to recover this year.