SINGAPORE: The remains of a Chinese social media influencer believed to have been missing for almost two weeks in Thailand have been found, and a Chinese suspect has left the country, according to Thai media reports.
This comes on the back of several kidnappings in Thailand and the Philippines this year, which have raised alarm across both countries.
Local media quoted Thai police sources, who said the remains were likely those of 38-year-old TikTok personality Yan Ruimin, who is believed to have been kidnapped while visiting the kingdom as a tourist.
Ms Yan arrived in Thailand from Malaysia on Jun 26. She was reported missing on Friday (Jul 12) by a friend who said he had last heard from her on Jun 30 according to the Thai Examiner. Previously, Ms Yan had spoken of plans to visit the southern province of Phuket in early July.
On Saturday, police forensic teams recovered a badly decomposed and dismembered body in Chachoengsao, some 50km east of Bangkok.
A search team led by the deputy chief of the Thai Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB), Noppasil Poolsawat, found the body at a deserted site near a housing estate in Tambon Bang Phra of Muang district in the eastern province.
Investigators are coordinating with forensic officers to carry out DNA tests of the body parts and to formally confirm identity, according to the Bangkok Post.
They are also now looking to question a suspect identified in media reports as Mr Ma Qingyan, a 32-year-old Chinese man who entered Thailand from Singapore on Jun 30.
According to local media, he is believed to have met with Ms Yan on Jul 1, the day she is thought to have been murdered, around Soi Sukhumvit 12 in the heart of Bangkok city.
They travelled to an address on another street, Soi 16, and stayed there together until nighttime.
Later, police evidence referenced in local media suggests the suspect drove a rental car out of Bangkok, stopping 12 times along the way.
His final stop, near the centre of Chachoengsao, is where he is believed to have stayed for around an hour burning documents and other debris including a suitcase believed to be Ms Yan’s.
Ms Yan’s body was discovered around 1km away. Mr Ma returned the rented car on Jul 3 and left the country shortly after for Hong Kong, then Macao.
Local media reported that police found blood in both the vehicle and his hotel in the city.
Between Jul 4 and Jul 6, Yan’s WeChat Pay account made several purchases in Macau, although there was no record of her leaving Thailand, regional media reported.
Noppasin indicated that police are now trying to have the suspect arrested and brought back to Thailand for questioning, according to the Thai Examiner.
One of Ms Yan’s relatives in China claimed he had received a ransom demand from Mr Ma for 5 million Thai baht (US$137,970), after visiting the Chinese embassy in Thailand for help, having not heard from Ms Yan for some time.
However, on Sunday, MG Noppasin downplayed reports alleging that Ms Yan’s disappearance was linked to a crime syndicate, suggesting there had been some confusion in the late influencer’s correspondence with her family.
Ms Yan was also active on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu under the name “Ruiming”, where she was listed as being from Shenzhen and had around 11,000 followers.
Her last post on Xiaohongshu was of her partying in Macau in May.
Several top comments paid their respects. One comment, which had 2,300 likes, wrote: “Rest in peace. Some overseas Chinese are truly despicable, targeting their own ‘comrades’. How could they bear to do this?”
The incident has resurfaced a number of recent tourist kidnappings in Thailand and the Philippines.
In June, Thai police found a 27-year-old woman from China feared to have been kidnapped in Thailand for a 5 million yuan (US$688,335) ransom at a Bangkok shopping mall.
In April, a Chinese student studying in Australia was lured to Thailand by a kidnapping gang and rescued by Thai police, following a ransom of 8 million yuan.
Late last month, a Chinese national and a Chinese-American reportedly travelling together on a business trip in the Philippines were kidnapped and killed.
