‘Please save my son’: Couple pleads outside Bangkok embassy to find their missing child | Trending

A Chinese couple, Sun Maoxing, 64, and his wife Wang Weiju, 60, embarked on their first trip outside China in a desperate bid to find their missing son, Sun Baochao, 32. The couple, hailing from Shandong province, stood outside the Chinese embassy in Bangkok on Monday, pleading with embassy staff and passers for assance. The son was last heard from Thailand via WeChat asking for money.(Pexel) “Please save my son,” they urged the staff. Sun revealed he last saw his son in April last year during his mother’s funeral but hadn’t had the chance to speak to him much. Wang, dressed, added, “He is our only son. We cannot live without him.” According to the South China Morning Post, Sun Baochao’s location remains unknown, with his only recent communication being requests for money sent via WeChat. In a message earlier, he indicated he was in Thailand. Wang shared that she had also received three calls from her son’s account, but the caller was a woman speaking broken Mandarin. According to Thai police, Sun Baochao arrived in Bangkok on January 1 and took a taxi from Suvarnabhumi Airport. However, no further trace of him has been found. The embassy has requested the couple mail case-related documents to a designated postbox, but no updates have been provided so far. “The embassy staff said they would contact me when there are updates, but they currently have no information,” Sun stated. Rising concerns about human traffickingThe case highlights the growing issue of human trafficking and scam operations in Southeast Asia. Victims are often coerced into working in industrial-scale scam centres run criminal syndicates, particularly along the Myanmar border. Also read: 31-year-old Chinese man rescued from Myanmar scam centre after viral social media post The couple’s plight mirrors that of Wang Yaxin, 40, who was also at the Chinese embassy in Bangkok on Monday. Wang is searching for his 28-year-old cousin, who last reported his location in Thailand’s Tak province near Myanmar. He suspects his cousin, who was unemployed, may have fallen victim to a loan scam. “I told him to share his location with me,” Wang said. “I screen-grabbed his location, but after leaving the chat to make a call, he disappeared.” The issue of human trafficking resurfaced in headlines after Chinese actor Wang Xing was rescued from a scam compound along the Thailand-Myanmar border last week. The actor, who had been lured under the guise of a production offer, was held captive, had his head shaved, and was forced to practise typing for days. Hong Kong’s security miner Chris Tang Ping-keung addressed the matter on Monday, clarifying that none of the victims in the recent cases were abducted during their visits to Thailand. Instead, they were drawn in promises of lucrative job offers. Of the 28 cases his bureau has handled, 16 victims have returned to Hong Kong, while the rest remain in contact but have lost their personal freedom.