Thai authorities insist that no South Koreans have been kidnapped in the kingdom, contradicting reports from South Korea.
On October 29, the Thai Immigration Bureau denied reports published a week earlier by two South Korean media outlets — The Korea Herald and The Korea Economic Daily — claiming that 11 South Koreans had been abducted in Thailand.
These press articles are based on data provided by the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was passed on to MP Kim Geon of the People's Power Party (opposition).
This controversy coincides with a slight decrease in South Korean tourist arrivals, down 2.38% over a week, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
See: Blackpink effect: Thailand attracts nearly 600,000 tourists in one week
This decline could worsen in the coming weeks.
The investigation by the Thai Immigration Bureau
Entrance to an immigration office in Thailand.
Major General Cherngron Rimphadee, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, said he had carefully checked the information concerning the 11 South Koreans.
He specified that five of them had left Thailand and that two others had been deported to South Korea.
He added that one of the deportees, 30-year-old Kim Gyeonghyeon, entered Thailand on May 31 from Cambodia, via the Ban Klong Luek border crossing in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaeo province.
It turned out that he was a member of a network of call centers in Cambodia, was blacklisted and deported to South Korea on July 1st.
The second South Korean expelled, 34-year-old Noh Kidong, entered Thailand via Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport on April 12 and was expelled on August 12 for overstaying his visa.
Major General Cherngron stated that he had informed the South Korean embassy in Bangkok about the 11 South Koreans who had been falsely reported as having been kidnapped in Thailand.
Bangkok warns foreign travelers
Tourists at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Photo: Pravit Rojanaphruk
Cherngron also stated that he had instructed border police at all airports to warn non-Thai passengers visiting Thailand alone for the first time under the visa-free program.
These travellers, if they do not have a specific itinerary, could be targeted by fake job offers in neighbouring countries (to feed call centres).
Accusations that are piling up in the foreign media
This photo would show the Belarusian model, identified as Vera Gravchova, who left Thailand on flight TG301 to Yangon, Myanmar, on September 20, 2025.
This case is linked to a recent Reuters article, based on victim testimonies, which accuses Thai immigration officials of complicity in the kidnapping of tourists to supply call centers in Burma or Cambodia.
See: Tourist Kidnappings in Thailand: Immigration Agents Complicit?
Immigration officials have likewise denied these facts and asserted that they have not received detailed information on the matter, which foreign diplomats claim to have sent them.
See: Tourist kidnappings in Thailand: Immigration accused, she denies
Authorities have also rejected allegations published by several foreign media outlets, including the Daily Mail , claiming that a Belarusian model was abducted in Thailand before being killed in Burma.
See: Kidnapping and organ trafficking: Thailand confronts the Belarusian woman case
- The Thai Immigration Bureau denies accusations of kidnapping 11 South Koreans.
- Two nationals were expelled for administrative reasons, unrelated to a kidnapping.
- Bangkok is urging solo travelers to be vigilant against fake regional job offers.
See also:
Cambodia's Call Center Hell: South Korean Man Tortured to Death
FBI and eight countries with Thailand against Cambodian call centers
Thailand – Cambodia: Civilians sacrificed to protect call centers?
Thailand: New kidnapping of Chinese by Burmese call centers
Fraudulent call centers: Thailand blames Cambodian elite
Source: Thai PBS World
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1 comment
That's still a lot of rumors which, whether true or not for reasons that escape me personally (unless the intention is to cause even more harm and drive another nail into the coffin of Thai tourism), are once again dealing a bad blow to Thailand's reputation for poor security in relation to its population and foreign tourists…
Some will say: there's no smoke without fire, and faced with a fog of investigations, botched police inquiries, statements and denials from both sides of the parties involved, police, embassy, government agencies, the reality of a very confused situation, which the Thai police are struggling to argue in their favor in the face of facts reported in the media and social networks that are spreading like wildfire week after week, does not lead Thai tourism towards a bright future.
The sky is darkening and large black clouds seem to linger in a sky which, at the end of the year, had been described by Thai officials of all stripes as an immaculate azure blue!!!
The only point that seems clear from reading this article is that one of the 11 South Koreans who "disappeared" from Thai territory, one individual is closely linked to fraudulent call center gangs, and another was expelled by immigration police…
2 out of 11 were therefore sent back to South Korea.
So there are 9 left (all 11 on the same flight?), 5 of which left Thailand to go where?
God only knows!
And as for the other four, they are still supposedly in Thailand???
I told you: all of this is crystal clear, in true Thai fashion!!!!
Hellooooo… Sherlock? …this is Watson; I need you!!!