A Chinese actor went missing in the Thai border town of Mae Sot near the Myanmar border on Friday, according to Chinese media reports.
His disappearance prompts fears that he may have fallen victim to human trafficking and was taken across the border to a scam center in Myanmar’s Myawaddy.
The actor, known as Xingxing, had traveled from Shanghai to Bangkok on Thursday and had been out of contact since Friday, according to his girlfriend.
She said Xingxing was told about a film project in an online actors’ chatroom, and after successfully auditioning and adding the production coordinator on WeChat, he decided to go to Thailand to join the shoot.
There he boarded a vehicle arranged by the casting coordinator and kept in contact with his girlfriend, sharing his location with her until he went missing near the border at noon Friday.
China’s state-owned Global Times reported that staff of the Chinese Consulate General in Chiang Mai received a call from the actor’s family.
Since he vanished close to an area in Myanmar where Chinese people and ethnic armed groups affiliated with them run online scam centers, fears are that he was lured there by a bogus casting call and kidnapped.
Another Chinese actor, Xu Dajiu, has said he narrowly escaped a similar situation and speculated that Xingxing was taken to Myawaddy. Xu warned others against accepting offers to film in Thailand, saying such apparent opportunities often lead to exploitation in Myanmar.
The case sparked widespread public concern in China and has become the most trending topic on Chinese social network Weibo after a wave of reposts by celebrities who called for urgent action to find him.
The Chinese Embassy in Myanmar on Monday said it is investigating, China Newsweek reported.
Xingxing, whose real name is Wang Xing, has appeared in several popular Chinese TV dramas.
