On a Sunday night in late August, a Chinese woman who had come to Thailand as a tourist found herself bound and struck inside a car that was tearing through Kamphaeng Phet, a provincial town far from the Bangkok hotel where her trouble began. It is the kind of story that asks how a trusting stranger, guided only by a voice on the phone, can be carried out of a city and into a border region; the answer is still being pieced together. Two men now sit in custody, two remain in the woodland, and the gap between the woman's account and the driver's account is where the truth will be sought.
Thai police arrest two after Chinese woman escapes alleged abduction during Kamphaeng Phet pursuit
A Chinese tourist was allegedly abducted, had her hands tied with cable ties, was struck in the mouth causing injury, and was hospitalized for treatment.
She used all her strength to open a door and escape from the moving car
Mark
What actually happened at the checkpoint?
Mimi
A car carrying a Chinese woman with her hands bound drove through a Kamphaeng Phet checkpoint after she shouted to officers. Police chased it, shot out a tyre, and caught two of the four men.
Mark
How did she end up in that car?
Mimi
She says she was a tourist bound for Singapore, and had only spoken by phone to someone she thought was a tour guide. A sedan collected her from her Bangkok hotel, then picked up three more men.
Luke
Everything about the Bangkok part comes from her statement. Has anything independent confirmed it?
Mimi
Not in the reporting. What police have directly is the cable ties, the chase, the arrests, and her injury treated at hospital.
Mark
There's a discrepancy about how she left the car, isn't there?
Mimi
Yes. Early accounts said she was pushed or abandoned on Ratchadamnoen Road. Her later statement says she opened the door herself.
Luke
And that's unresolved in the reporting. We don't know which version came from whom at first, only that her own statement says she escaped.
Mark
What does the driver say?
Mimi
Kittiporn says he was paid 10,000 baht by Somkiat and that the men in back tied her up while he was told to keep driving.
Luke
That's a suspect's claim, and it casts him as peripheral. Police haven't said they accept it, and the charges aren't described.
Mark
What's still open?
Mimi
Two men are at large, one identified and one not, and police are asking whether a wider network is behind it.
Le Pouls
- A black sedan blew through a police checkpoint at around 9pm with a bound woman inside, sending officers into pursuit.
- Her hands were tied with cable ties and her mouth struck, and she was left injured and hospitalised.
- She threw open the car door during the chase, ran to a salon for help, and was taken to hospital by passers-by and police.
- Officers shot at a tyre to stop the car, catching two men while two fled into the trees.
- Early reports said she was pushed out, but her later statement says she escaped herself, and the driver's paid-for story is still being tested.
- Investigators are now working to uncover whether a wider network lies behind the alleged abduction.
On a Sunday night in late August, a Chinese woman who had come to Thailand as a tourist found herself bound and struck inside a car that was tearing through Kamphaeng Phet, a provincial town far from the Bangkok hotel where her trouble began. It is the kind of story that asks how a trusting stranger, guided only by a voice on the phone, can be carried out of a city and into a border region; the answer is still being pieced together. Two men now sit in custody, two remain in the woodland, and the gap between the woman's account and the driver's account is where the truth will be sought.
It began on a Sunday night in Bangkok, when a Chinese woman on a tourist stop before Singapore checked into a hotel and spoke by phone with someone she believed was her tour guide. She had never met him. When a sedan arrived to collect her, she was told the plan had changed, and soon three more men climbed in. She realised she had been deceived. She fought back, but her phone was taken, her hands were bound with cable ties, and she was struck in the mouth, leaving her hurt and frightened.
Near Kamphaeng Phet, the car roared through a police checkpoint. The woman shouted to the officers, and during the chase she forced a door open and threw herself from the moving vehicle. She ran to a salon and begged for help. Local residents and police got her to hospital, then took her statement with a Chinese-language interpreter present.
Police pursued the sedan, firing at a tyre until it stopped. Four men fled into the woodland. Two were caught; two escaped. The driver, Kittiporn, told investigators he had been hired for 10,000 baht to collect the woman, and that the men in the back had done the rest. Those are his claims. Investigators are now testing every account against the others, searching for the two fugitives, and asking whether anyone stood behind the people who made the call.
At about 9pm on Sunday, Aug 23, a black Bangkok-registered Nissan Teana drove straight through a police checkpoint outside the Chula police box in central Kamphaeng Phet. In the car, police say, was a Chinese woman whose hands had been bound with cable ties. Officers believed the group was taking her toward Mae Sot district in Tak province, near the border.
By the end of the night, two Thai men were in custody and the woman was in hospital. Two other men had run into woodland and remained at large. Police identified the arrested suspects as Somkiat Thakaeo, 41, and Kittiporn Winya, 24, both from Mae Sot district.
The woman's account, as given to investigators, begins in Bangkok. She told police she was on her way to Singapore and had stopped in Thailand as a tourist. After landing at the airport, she checked into a hotel and spoke by phone with a person she took to be a tour guide. She had never met this person; every contact had been by telephone.
On Sunday a sedan came to collect her from the hotel. Soon after leaving, the car stopped nearby and three more men got in. She said that was when she realised she had been deceived. She tried to resist and to get out, and according to her statement the men took her phone, tied her hands with cable ties and struck her in the mouth with an elbow, injuring her.
When the car neared the Kamphaeng Phet checkpoint, she saw a chance and shouted to the officers. The driver accelerated through. During the chase that followed, she said, she used all her strength to force a door open and escape from the moving vehicle.
That detail matters because early accounts differed. Initial reports said the suspects had pushed her out or abandoned her on Ratchadamnoen Road, near an optical shop in Nai Mueang subdistrict. Her later statement said she had opened the door herself. She ran to a salon near a traffic-light junction and knocked on the door for help. Members of the public and police officers assisted her and arranged her transport to Kamphaeng Phet Hospital, where she was treated and examined. Tourist Police officers and a Chinese-language interpreter then accompanied her to Mueang Kamphaeng Phet Police Station to give her statement.
Meanwhile, Pol Col Somkasem Charak, superintendent of the station, had ordered patrol officers to pursue and intercept the sedan. Police followed it toward Lan Dokmai subdistrict, where, according to station inspector Pol Maj Chakkaphet Khrueacha, officers fired at one of its tyres. The damaged tyre stopped the car. All four men abandoned it and fled into woodland by the road. Officers caught Somkiat and Kittiporn shortly afterward; the other two got away. Police said one of the fugitives has been identified, while the identity of the other is still being established.
Kittiporn, whom police described as the driver, gave investigators a different version of his role. He claimed Somkiat hired him for 10,000 baht to pick up the woman from the Bangkok hotel. He said he drove a short distance, stopped to collect Somkiat and two other men, and that the two in the back seat then seized her phone and tied her hands. He claimed he asked what they were doing and was told not to get involved and to keep driving. These are his claims, made to police.
Pol Lt Col Suwich Phit-on, the station's deputy superintendent overseeing the case, said investigators are questioning the two men to determine whether a wider network is involved. Next steps are finding the two fugitives and testing the suspects' accounts against the woman's.
Citations marquantes
Investigators are questioning the two arrested men to identify any wider network involved.— Pol Lt Col Suwich Phit-on, deputy superintendent, Mueang Kamphaeng Phet Police Station
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