Killer of Chinese social media influencer arrested in Hong Kong

The killer of the Chinese social media influencer has been apprehended in Hong Kong on an arrest warrant issued by the Thai authorities. The extradition process is now underway.

The arrest follows yesterday’s reports that significant progress had been made in the case of 38-year-old Yan Ruimin, a Chinese female social media influencer who went missing while in Thailand.

The investigative team traced the suspect, Ma Qingyan, a Chinese man believed to have known the victim, through CCTV footage. He was seen entering a grassy area where the woman’s body was later found in Bang Phra, Chachoengsao Province. The Southern Bangkok Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Ma Qingyan on charges of murder and hiding, moving, or destroying a corpse to conceal the death or the cause of death.

Pol Maj Gen Nopasin Poolsawat, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, revealed that through coordination with Interpol, Ma Qingyan had been apprehended by the Hong Kong authorities.

The Hong Kong police have since transferred Ma Qingyan to China for further processing. The Chinese authorities are coordinating with Thai police to request additional information, with the Department of International Affairs handling the extradition process under Thailand’s extradition treaty with China.

The Straits Times of Singapore had earlier reported that Ma was arrested in Macau.

On July 15, the Macau police told local media that the 34-year-old man was nabbed when he allegedly attempted to defraud a pawnshop with a counterfeit luxury watch.

While he was in detention, the police realised that the unemployed Chinese national was the murder suspect the mainland authorities had been looking for.

Reports of his arrest come two days after badly decomposed human remains were found at a deserted site in Chachoengsao, about 50km east of Bangkok. The remains were identified as belonging to social media influencer Yan Ruimin, who went missing in the Thai capital nearly two weeks ago.

Yan was active on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, where she had about 15,300 followers. On her account, Yan documented her travels, which included Thailand and Singapore, with her most recent post occurring in May in Macau.

She last contacted a friend on June 30 while travelling alone. The 38-year-old told him that she planned to go to Phuket on July 2, but she never arrived.

Closed-circuit television footage from the area where the victim was last seen in Bangkok on July 1 showed that she had got into a white Honda car driven by a man.

The pair was last seen eating durian at Khlong Toei market, holding hands and walking before getting in the car.

The next day, the vehicle was spotted heading towards Chonburi in eastern Thailand.

Around midday on July 13, a search team by the police discovered decomposed human remains, dumped at a deserted site near a housing estate in Chachoengsao.

Police investigations found that the vehicle had been rented in Bangkok by the suspect, identified as Ma Qingyan.

He returned the rented car before travelling to Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thailand’s main airport, and flew to Hong Kong on the afternoon of July 3.

A week later, he was caught pawning the counterfeit watch in Macau and was later arrested by the Macau police for fraud while trying to leave by ferry to Hong Kong.

Ma was handed over to the mainland authorities on the morning of July 15.