Russian Woman Found Injured in Mae Sai After Suspected Scam Recruitment
Russian Woman Found Injured in Mae Sai After Suspected Scam Recruitment
CHIANG RAI, 11 Aug 2026 — Thai police are investigating a possible connection to a transnational scam network after a 19-year-old Russian woman was found injured at a shopping centre in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai province, after reportedly travelling through Myanmar.
Mariia Tsygankova, a Russian national, was found with multiple injuries at about 3:45pm on Sunday, August 9, in the Zone A3 car park of Lotus’s Mae Sai in Wiang Phang Kham subdistrict.
Patrol officers found the woman and arranged for her to be taken to Mae Sai Hospital for treatment.
Pol Col Jiraphas Saksung, superintendent of Mae Sai Police Station, said investigators had arranged an interpreter to conduct an initial interview with Tsygankova at the hospital.
According to information obtained through the interpreter, Tsygankova had left Russia to work in China before flying to Thailand. She later travelled to Yangon, Myanmar, and eventually reached Tachileik, the Myanmar border town opposite Mae Sai.
Police are investigating whether she was recruited to Tachileik by a scam network that allegedly offered highly paid employment.
Investigators are considering whether she realised she had been deceived after arriving in Tachileik or refused to follow instructions from the group.
Police suspect she may then have been assaulted, taken across the Thai-Myanmar border through an unofficial crossing and abandoned at the Mae Sai shopping centre.
However, authorities stressed that these circumstances have not yet been independently established and remain under investigation.
Pol Lt Col Mekhin Kongsaeng, an investigation inspector at Mae Sai Police Station, has been assigned to work with tourist police and patrol officers to identify those involved.
Investigators are reviewing CCTV footage from the area to trace the people who allegedly brought Tsygankova to the shopping centre.
Police have also contacted the Russian Embassy in Thailand so that her family can be informed of the incident.
The woman was described as distressed and frightened while receiving treatment at Mae Sai Hospital. Police have assigned officers to provide security as the investigation continues.
The case comes as authorities on the Myanmar side of the border continue operations targeting suspected online scam networks and illegal gambling operations.
