Chinese man 'robbed by fellow Chinese nationals and his own cousin' in Thailand

A Chinese man was allegedly hogtied and robbed by fellow Chinese nationals and his own cousin at a house in Thailand.

Qian Peng Yi, 34, was playing video games at his two-storey home when three Chinese men allegedly barged inside and threatened him with a gun in Chonburi province on July 17 evening.

The intruders are said to have forced him into his bedroom and hogtied him with cables. They also allegedly caught and tied up his female cousin, Tu Peizhi, 33, who was staying in a room in the home's second storey.

However, while the suspects were busy ransacking the house, Qian Peng Yi said he managed to break free from his restraints and escaped outside.

He called the police and waited in the street outside - only to see his cousin Tu leaving with the alleged thieves in a car early morning on July 18.

Police Captain Damchaluay Samkhanying, deputy chief of investigation at the Nongprue Police Station, said police received Qian's report at 12:58 am.

The officer said: 'When we arrived, the victim was waiting for us outside his home. He was terrified, and there were marks on his wrists and ankles from being bound with plastic cable ties.

'Inside the house, there were traces of a ransacking on both the ground floor and the second floor. In the living room, cable ties were found scattered on the kitchen floor. The police collected them as evidence.'

Qian said he had been living in Thailand for around a year, and had moved to the Southeast Asian country to start a business and a family.

Recounting the theft, he said: 'They tried to force me into transferring 10 million baht into their account, but I refused. Then, they threatened to kill my cousin. When they left the bedroom to rummage through my belongings, I took advantage of the moment and escaped.'

Police said Qian's laptop, phone, and tablet were missing from the premises. They also found that the cousin, Tu, had travelled to the Suvarnabhumi International Airport at around 1 am and has already returned to China.

Authorities said the investigation was ongoing.

Qian's case is the second recent case of Chinese nationals perpetrating crimes on fellow Chinese in Thailand.

On July 13, the decaying corpse of a Chinese TikTok star, Yan Ruimin, 38, was found in a deserted area in a housing estate in Chachoengsao province.

The suspect is a Chinese tourist, Ma Qingyan, 32, who reportedly stayed with her at a hotel in Bangkok on July 1, before allegedly dumping her body in the overgrown lot.

Police were coordinating with Interpol to have Ma Qingyan returned to Thailand after he flew to Macau.