Laos Rescues Two Thai Teens Held for Ransom by Chinese Traffickers

On July 17, 2026, Pol. Col. Nophadol Rukchati, commander of Nong Khai Provincial Police, along with other provincial officials and the Nong Khai inter-agency task force, received two Thai girls from Lao authorities at the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge checkpoint in Muang District, Nong Khai province. The teenagers had fallen victim to human trafficking. According to initial questioning, the two 15-year-old victims from Chiang Mai had rented accommodation together with a female friend in Fang District starting in February. On April 3, their roommate invited them to travel to Laos, accompanied by three older acquaintances who ferried them across the Mekong River via a natural crossing near Chiang Saen in Chiang Rai. Upon arriving in Ton Phuang in Bokeo province, a Lao woman drove them to a guesthouse, confiscated their phones, and told them a friend owed a debt of 300,000 baht, using them as collateral while detaining them. Four days later, on April 7, a Chinese man arrived and forced them to call relatives demanding ransom, threatening to sell them in Myanmar or harvest their organs if payment was not made. The girls contacted their relatives, who filed a missing person report at Fang Police Station. Thai authorities coordinated with Laotian officials to locate and safely extract both girls, after which they were taken to protective custody in Vientiane. Following completion of official procedures, they were escorted through Nong Khai immigration and returned to Thailand.