A Chinese actor who went missing last week near the Thai-Myanmar border has been found in Myanmar and may have been the victim of human trafficking, Thai authorities said on Tuesday (January 7).

Wang Xing, 22, was reported missing in northern Thailand's Tak province bordering Myanmar, an area known for large-scale criminal enterprises and human trafficking by organized gangs.

He was told there was a casting in Thailand, but instead was trained to scam other Chinese people, according to Thai national police inspector-general Thatchai Pitaneelaboot.

Wang has now been returned to Thailand. His case was widely shared on Chinese social media.

Southeast Asia, especially border towns in Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, has become a hub for telecom and other online fraud, according to the United Nations, which says hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to work in scam centers.