Missing Chinese actor found in Myanmar may have been trafficking victim, Thai officials say

BANGKOK (Reuters) -A Chinese actor who went missing last week near the Thai-Myanmar border has been found in Myanmar and may have been the victim of human trafficking, Thai authorities said on Tuesday.

Wang Xing, 22, was reported missing in northern Thailand's Tak province bordering Myanmar, an area known for large-scale criminal enterprises and human trafficking by organised gangs. 

"From initial inquiry, we believe he was a victim of human trafficking," police Inspector General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot told reporters.  

He was told there was a casting in Thailand, but instead was trained to scam other Chinese people, Thatchai said, adding he was not assaulted or abused.

Wang has now been returned to Thailand.

The case was widely shared on Chinese social media raising concerns that it could dent Thailand's hospitality and tourism industry, a key driver of Southeast Asia's second-largest economy and for which China is the main source market.   

"We have to manage this well so it does not impact Thai tourism," Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said.

Last year, Thailand welcomed 35.55 million foreign arrivals with 6.74 million from China.

China's foreign ministry said it was in touch with its embassies overseas and would "continue to follow up on the progress of the incident". 

Southeast Asia, especially border towns in Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, has become a hub for telecom and other online fraud, according to the United Nations, which says hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to work in scam centres.

Most of the trafficking victims were from Southeast Asian countries as well as China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, but others came from as far away as Africa and Latin America, according to the U.N.

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng, Additional reporting Colleen Howe in Beijing; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Sharon Singleton)