Although Myanmar’s military government, under pressure from China, has launched a crackdown on notorious scam centers like the KK Park, criminal organizations have simply relocated, and the scam industry remains rampant.
A female student from a university in Guangdong, China, was recently invited by a “friend” to attend the Songkran Festival in Thailand. Unexpectedly, upon landing, she was immediately detained and then trafficked to a telecom scam park in Myanmar. Her family paid a ransom equivalent to over 200,000 RMB (115,900 Malaysian ringgit), yet her release has been repeatedly delayed under various pretexts. The student’s family has reported the case to the Chinese police.
According to Chinese media including the Yangzi Evening News, the detained student, Xiaoyang (pseudonym), is a first-year student at a university in Guangdong. Invited by a friend, she flew from Guangzhou to Thailand on the 10th of this month, with a return ticket booked for the 15th. However, after she arrived in Thailand that afternoon, the “friend” did not show up. Xiaoyang was immediately taken captive by a stranger and two days later was brought to Myanmar’s Three Pagodas area near the border, suspected of being sold to a telecom scam center.
In the early hours of the 13th of this month, Xiaoyang’s classmate noticed irregularities in her whereabouts and urgently contacted her father. After multiple attempts, Xiaoyang’s father was finally able to speak to her captors, who identified themselves as “Kind-hearted Brother”. They claimed to have spent 29,000 U-coins (a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar) to “buy” Xiaoyang, and demanded a ransom of 30,000 U-coins. They threatened that non-payment or contacting the police would lead to Xiaoyang being resold or facing gang rape.
Worried sick, the father managed to raise the funds and, following instructions, paid the ransom on the afternoon of the 13th. Although they promised to release her after receiving the money, the captors repeatedly delayed. At first, they cited the Songkran Festival as a reason for being unable to arrange her release, then later claimed “roadblocks” and the need to process “park resignation procedures”, and by the 22nd, used the excuse that the park was currently “one-way in, not out”.
Currently, Xiaoyang is still able to keep in touch with her family via mobile phone, but her safety is uncertain, causing extreme anxiety for her family. Her family reported the case to the police on the 14th. Chinese police have formally opened an investigation. The university she attends has also reported the incident to the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department and the Department of Education, earnestly requesting intervention and coordination from relevant authorities to carry out a rescue.