19-year old Lawrence Honour is still missing after last being spotted in Kanchanaburi, near the Myanmar border, late last month. The young Brit lived with his British father and Thai mother near Pattaya.
According to the Daily Mirror and The Sun newspapers, Lawrence is a computer whizzkid with a love of adventure. His parents fear that he may have been kidnapped in Myanmar by one of the Chinese-operated gangs operating illegal online scams.
He is known to have attempted to cross into Myanmar by climbing a fence before being turned back by Thai border police. According to the current website of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, British tourists require an e-visa to enter Myanmar and must have a return flight ticket. The normal procedure for tourists is to enter and exit only by air, although the land border at Kawthaung is theoretically possible by longtail boat.
Thai police captain Surachai Ratanarat, based near the border, said there were several reasons why Lawrence could be in Myanmar. These included a curiosity about the country or a wish for excitement or even ill-advised contact with someone offering to get him into the country. Kanchanaburi governor Athisan Intara has ordered a full investigation including examination of CCTV video tapes and appeals to the general public.
