Suspect in murder of Chinese tourist in Thailand arrested

His arrest was made on July 10 by Macau police when the man identified by his surname Ma was found defrauding a pawnshop with a counterfeit luxury watch, The Straits Times reported.

While he was detained, police found the man, who holds a Chinese passport, was a murder suspect being hunted by Chinese authorities.

Ma was then handed over to the mainland authorities on July 15 for investigation into the death of Yan.

On July 13, police officers in Thailand found a dismembered body including human legs at a deserted site near a housing estate in Chachoengsao Province, some 50 km east of Bangkok.

Police believed the body belongs to Yan who has been reportedly missing more than 10 days.

Because the remains were badly decomposed, DNA samples had to be extracted from the bones, according to Bangkok Post.

If the remains' DNA match that of Yan's father, police could seek an arrest warrant against Ma.

Yan traveled alone from Malaysia to Thailand on June 26.

On June 28-29, Yan visited Pattaya. She arrived in Bangkok on June 30 and stayed at a hotel before moving to a friend's house in the Rama 9 area.

On July 1, she took a Grab taxi to Sukhumvit Soi 12 where a Chinese man identified as Ma Qingyan picked her up in a rented car.

Police also found traces of blood in both the vehicle and Ma's hotel room in Bangkok and initially identified Ma as the main suspect. However, he has since left Thailand.

Yan was a popular social media influencer in China, active on social media platform Xiaohongshu under the name "Ruiming" where she had around 11,000 followers.