A 33-year-old music teacher from Shanghai has gone missing after travelling to Bangkok, while a Taiwanese tourist has reported encountering a distressed man who claimed to be from Shanghai and said he had been held against his will.
The teacher, surnamed Wang, reportedly flew alone to Bangkok on September 24 after work without telling friends or relatives.
He sent a message to friends on the evening of September 25, but his phone was later switched off and he could no longer be reached.
His school contacted his family after he failed to return to work following the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday on September 28. His family then reported him missing to police in Shanghai.
A possible sighting was reported on October 1, when a Taiwanese woman said she encountered a man outside her hotel in Bangkok who was shaking and appeared frightened.
The man said he was from Shanghai and asked her to call an ambulance. He also claimed he had been confined to a room for several days and forced to take prohibited substances.
Taiwanese media and mainland Chinese internet users later compared the man's reported appearance with that of Wang, raising speculation that he could be the missing teacher.
Thai police and Chinese authorities in Thailand have not confirmed the man's identity.
It remains unclear whether the man encountered in Bangkok was Wang or what happened to the missing teacher.
