KUANTAN: When Goi Chee Kong and his wife Yang Fei Pin travelled to Thailand on Aug 30 to look for their missing son, they were hoping that he was alive and well somewhere in Bangkok.
Unfortunately, Chee Kong and Yang were left heartbroken when they were informed that their 23-year-old son, Goi Zhan Feng, had allegedly died; with the series of events that unfolded leaving them puzzled.
They were shocked when a hospital in Mae Sot, near the Thailand-Myanmar border, claimed Zhan Feng had died on May 11 and the hospital could not trace his identity earlier as he was allegedly admitted under a fake name.
The couple's anguish continued when the hospital instructed them to settle the outstanding bills, before the family could be issued with a death certificate to exhume the remains for DNA testing and to return the body to their hometown in Menglembu, Perak.
Teruntum assemblyman Sim Chon Siang, who is in Bangkok to assist the family, said Zhan Feng's family had launched a fundraising campaign on Sept 2 to pay the bills and fees.
"Yesterday, the family managed to collect RM50,000 from generous Malaysians. We will settle the hospital bills today (Sunday) to obtain the death certificate and hopefully be able to secure permission to exhume the body from the burial site tomorrow (Monday).
"The family was made to understand that a non-governmental organisation had claimed the body from the hospital mortuary and provided free burial service. The Malaysian embassy here has been supportive and we hope to complete the necessary procedures in Thailand before repatriating the remains by the end of this week," he said when contacted.
How did Zhan Feng, a final year student at a teaching institute in Malaysia, end up in Thailand?
Sim said while some of the information remained sketchy, he was informed by Chee Kong, 50, a mechanic, that his son had befriended an individual on social media and travelled to Bangkok on Jan 9 this year.
"Based on our checks, he went to Mae Sot and illegally entered Myawaddy in south-eastern Myanmar. He had contacted the family in Malaysia and promised to return in early February but never came home.
"Zhan Feng is believed to have fallen victim to a scam as he had contacted his family on March 31 asking for RM80,000 claiming he was unwell.
"Their son did not speak much during the calls, making it difficult for the family to track down his whereabouts," he said, adding Chee Kong had previously lodged a police report about his missing son in Malaysia in February and April this year.
Sim said Zhan Feng, the eldest of three siblings, was allegedly admitted to the hospital in Mae Sot on April 11 before he died a month later.
"The fake information made it difficult for the hospital to trace the next-of-kin."
He said Chee Kong and Yang, 45, decided to travel to Bangkok to look for their son and with the assistance from Victor Wong, a Malaysian businessman who has been living in Bangkok for more than 15 years, they managed to track down the hospital in Mae Sot.
"They showed Zhan Feng's picture to the hospital staff and were informed that their son was no longer alive," he said.
Sim said the family had lodged a police report in Chonburi to exhume the remains for DNA testing at about 2.30am on Sept 2 but was told to sort out the hospital bills first before they were allowed to proceed with the other necessary procedures.