Worried mother: Chee showing the picture of her daughter Sum Yee during the press conference in Kulai, Johor.
KULAI: The mother of a 22-year-old Malaysian woman who was reported missing in Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, believes that despite her assurances, her daughter had been duped into going there.
Chee Choy Won, 50, said she was still concerned for Chong Sum Yee, the younger of two siblings, who travelled to Thailand on May 29 without informing anyone.
“My daughter contacted me on Friday night through a WhatsApp call. She told me to take back the police report I had lodged after she went missing, telling me that she is fine over there.
“It was only a few minutes’ call, but when I asked why she went to Thailand and who she is with, she kept telling me she is safe before hanging up.
“As a mother, I know she is not in a good place and I am worried about her safety,” she told a press conference organised by Johor DAP education politics director Alan Tee Boon Tsong here yesterday.
Chee added that she and her son went to Thailand on June 6 to follow up on the Thai police’s search for Sum Yee.
“They told me that they were not ruling out the possibility of her having crossed the border into Myanmar,” she said, adding that her daughter was supposed to return to Malaysia on June 7.
Sum Yee’s older brother Jeng Wei, 23, questioned several videos of his sister that have been uploaded on social media saying she was safe and healthy.
“I know my sister very well. That does not sound like her and she looks very stressed,” he said, adding that as far as the family knows, Sum Yee has no working issues, financial problems or issues with the family.
Jeng Wei said until now, the family has no clue as to why Sum Yee, who has been working as a beautician for the past five years in Kuala Lumpur, decided to go to Thailand.
“Please come back home, our mother is worried about you. She hardly sleeps or eats since you went missing,” he added.
It was reported that Sum Yee flew to Chiang Mai on May 29 and travelled about 250km to the northernmost district of Mae Sai in Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand.
The place is close to the neighbouring town of Tachilek in Myanmar, where human trafficking incidents have been reported.
The videos of Sum Yee were posted by a Facebook user named ‘Moe Aye’ in the comment section of a post made by Chee.
In two of the videos, the young woman repeatedly says she is safe and healthy.
She also pleads with the police to stop bothering the driver who sent her there as he supposedly knew nothing about her situation.
In a 23-second video, the woman clad in dark-coloured shirt says: “Hello. I am currently working here and I am safe. Do not worry about me.”
In another 33-second video, the young woman repeats she is fine, healthy and had not been beaten.
Earlier, Thai police said initial investigations found Sum Yee had crossed the border into Tachilek, Myanmar, on May 30.
