According to Sanxiang Metropolis Daily, on July 14, the police of Mae Rim County Police Station in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand received a report that a Chinese body was found in a grove on the roadside of Ban Pa Heo Village in Mae Rim Town. The Mae Rim Police Station then coordinated with the police of the Fifth District Police Station of Thailand, the medical staff of Nakhon Ping Public Hospital and the rescue team to go to the scene for investigation.
After the police arrived at the scene, they found a body in the grove. The deceased was about 24-30 years old. The body was wrapped in three layers of black plastic bags, sheets and plastic cloth respectively, and was transported here to be dumped in the wilderness. Through preliminary investigation, the police determined that the deceased was a Chinese man named Yang. Not long ago, Yang’s family reported that he was kidnapped and asked for a ransom and then disappeared. The police have been looking for him for many days.
Through extended investigation, the police learned that Yang and another Chinese friend Hu were engaged in the gray cotton business in the Golden Triangle Economic Development Zone of Laos. The two had recently entered Thailand from the natural channel in the direction of Laos and arrived in Chiang Saen County, Chiang Rai Province. On July 8, they chartered a taxi from Chiang Rai Province to Chiang Mai Province and were kidnapped after arriving in Chiang Mai. Yang’s family then received a ransom of 3 million baht (about 660,000 yuan) from the kidnappers to redeem him, but his family had no money and could not remit the money. Yang then lost contact and was killed and his body was dumped when they met again.
The police further investigated the clues they had and found Hu in a hotel in Chiang Mai Province. Hu revealed that he was kidnapped and extorted 1.5 million baht (about 330,000 yuan) like Yang. After paying the ransom, the other party released him. The police were skeptical of Hu’s confession and summoned him to the police station for further questioning and investigation.
Hu confessed that not long ago, two Chinese men named Wang and Zhang in Thailand contacted him and Yang in the Golden Triangle and invited them to Thailand to discuss human trafficking and expand the gray market business related to the golden kapok business. After they arrived in Chiang Mai, the two sides agreed to have dinner at a restaurant on Nimman Road to discuss business, and then took a car to Zhang’s home in Hangdong County to stay.
Hu said that after waking up early on July 9, he found that he and Yang were kidnapped by Wang and Zhang, and the other party also asked him for a ransom of 1.5 million Thai baht (about RMB 330,000). He paid the ransom as required by the other party and gained freedom, but Yang was killed and dumped by the other party because he could not pay the huge ransom. During the dumping of the body, the murder weapon and Yang’s mobile phone were lost, and the police are still searching.
It is reported that on July 10, Zhang, one of the suspects, prepared meals for his wife and children, and then flew back to China. As for Wang, he has already escaped from Thailand through natural channels. Currently, the police are collecting evidence to conduct further investigation into the case, aiming to arrest the murderer as soon as possible. As for Hu, whether he is suspected of deceiving his friends to ask for ransom and participating in the crime needs further investigation.
