Unexpected twist: Chinese accident investigation unveils chilling kidnap-ransom scheme in Bangkok

Royal Thai Police officers, investigating a car accident between Thai and Chinese drivers on Bangkok’s Sirat Expressway, stumbled upon a shocking twist—an unexpected link to a chilling kidnap-for-ransom scheme.

ThaiRath yesterday afternoon reported that Expressway Police Station 2 was called to the scene of a car accident on the Sirat Expressway by a 33 year old Thai man, Somphong Sisod. At the scene, officers discovered that a grey Toyota Yaris sedan had crashed into Somphong’s car, a white Toyota Fortuner SUV.

Somphong told officers that the driver of the sedan, later identified as a 36 year old Chinese man named Zhao Wulin, used a translation application to tell him that he would pay for the damage out of his pocket. Somphong declined the offer, advising Wulin to contact his insurance company instead.

Somphong explained that the expressway police arrived and ordered him and the Chinese man to wait on the expressway for their insurance company representatives. Somphong revealed that another team of police approached the Chinese man and immediately arrested him.

Somphong said he was confused because the car accident should not have led to such a quick arrest. He added that he later learned that the Chinese man had kidnapped a Chinese woman for ransom. The woman was in the sedan at the time and took the opportunity during the accident to flee the scene in a taxi.

Somphong said he did not know when the woman escaped because he returned to his car after talking to the Chinese man.

After questioning both the Chinese suspect and the victim, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Noppasin Poonsawat revealed the details of the case to the media.

Noppasin explained that the Chinese woman worked in China as an agent for a plastic surgery hospital in South Korea, and the Chinese suspect, Wulin, worked as a chauffeur in Dubai. Both visited Thailand for a holiday.

The two met on the Telegram application and met in person after 10 days of online conversation. They drank alcohol together in a restaurant before the woman got drunk and woke up the next day in Wulin’s hotel room in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao district.

Wulin invited her to take a trip to Pattaya and she agreed. Instead of enjoying the sea vibes, Wulin took the woman to a secluded area, tied her up, and demanded 50,000 yuan, about 250,000 baht, from the victim.

Lacking the funds, the woman reached out to her friend, who promptly transferred the money to her account out of concern for her safety. Wulin then took the woman to the bank to withdraw the money. However, the accident on the expressway disrupted his plan.

Officers are now investigating whether Wulin had a warrant for his arrest in China or whether he had previously committed a crime in Thailand.

Commissioner Noppasin added that a similar incident had just taken place on April 18, when a Chinese man killed a Chinese woman in a car accident.

Commissioner Noppasin added that the case bore similarities to a prior case on April 18 when a Chinese man kidnapped a Chinese woman from the entertainment venue, RCA, in Bangkok, where he took her to a hotel and extorted money from her. The suspect managed to evade arrest by leaving Thailand.

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