A Chinese tourist flying to Thailand from Hong Kong was set free 14 days after she was abducted at the Bangkok airport by a gang that included an immigration cop.
Chen Jincai’s husband called police after he paid a ransom of 2 million yuan (HK$2.46 million) and was told to pay another 1 million yuan.
Thai police sought arrest warrants for four Chinese suspects – Hong Kong man Song Ming and mainlanders Sun Wenqui, Kai Meiling and Sun Dongliang. Thai woman Wansikan Termthanapat, is in custody and police are hunting 10 other Thais believed involved in the kidnapping.
Chen, 39, arrived in Thailand at around 9.30pm on May 6 on a flight from Hong Kong, the Bangkok Post reported.
She was abducted by five people upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi airport, said tourist police bureau deputy commissioner Major General Surachet Hakpan.
Her husband, a Tanzanian citizen of Korean origin, paid a ransom of 2 million yuan but was told it was not enough. So he sought the help of police on Friday.
Surachet said that from May 6 to 18 the gang kept the victim at a hotel in Bangkok.
She was then taken to a rented house in Pattaya, and then a house on Koh Samet in Rayong province.
She was taken back to Bangkok while blindfolded, and set free unharmed on Saturday on the side of Bang Na-Trat Road in Bang Na district, Bangkok.
She called her relatives, who in turn alerted police.
The Nation reported that a Thai immigration police officer was allegedly involved in the abduction. The unnamed senior sergeant major is under the Samut Prakan Immigration Police Office.
Three of the four wanted Chinese took Cathay Pacific flight CX703 from Hong Kong to Bangkok on May 6. They left Thailand on different dates.
The cops know the identity of all the suspects, Surachat said. At a press conference, Chen shook hands with Surachat.
Hong Kong police said they would not comment on the case. The Immigration Department did not receive any request for assistance.
There were other kidnapping cases, in Thailand recently. In March, police arrested seven French people over the alleged kidnapping and physical abuse of a 21-year-old female French woman.
The group sent a video of her being kidnapped to her family in France, who paid 5,000 euros (HK$46,370). They reported to police after seeing her set free.
