IPOH, Sept 7 — The ashes of Zhan Feng, 23, believed to have fallen victim to a job scam and died on May 11 at Mae Sot Hospital near the Thailand-Myanmar border, are expected to be brought back to Malaysia this Friday.

Teruntum (Pahang) assemblyman Sim Chon Siang who is in Bangkok said the ashes will be brought home by the deceased’s parents to their residence in Panorama Lapangan Akasia, Ipoh, before burial.

"Now we are on our way to the cemetery in Si Racha in Chonburi province to exhume the body and conduct a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test.

"The DNA results of the deceased and his father need to be 99.9 per cent confirmed first and we hope to reach Malaysia this Friday by taking a flight to Kuala Lumpur International Airport first,” he said when contacted by Bernama.

On Sunday, Bernama reported that a Malaysian couple who went to Bangkok to look for their missing son was heartbroken upon finding out their son has passed away on May 11 at Mae Sot Hospital near the Thailand-Myanmar border.

It was even sadder when Goi Chee Kong, 50, and his 45-year-old wife from Ipoh found out that their missing eldest son Zhan Feng, 23, believed to have been trafficked into Myawaddy in south-eastern Myanmar and forced to work for the syndicate.

The couple travelled to Bangkok on August 30 and was scheduled to fly to Mae Sot the next day to meet their son who was said to be sick and was receiving treatment at the hospital to be brought back to Malaysia for treatment.

However, they were told that Zhan Feng died at 2am on May 11 and doctors believed that the victim was abused before being left at the hospital on April 11 and was even admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) using a false name and passport number, causing the hospital to be unable to contact the embassy and family to discuss health conditions and treatment.

Without further medical treatment, he passed away a month later and his remains were buried at a cemetery in Si Racha in Chonburi province.

Zhan Feng, a final year student of the Institute of Teacher Education (IPG), travelled to Bangkok for a holiday on January 19 to meet a friend he had met on social media.

He promised to return home to celebrate his mother’s birthday on February 5. However, he failed to do so and two days later, his father lodged a missing person report.

On March 31, Zhan Feng called the parents and informed them that he was in Mae Sot in Tak Province and that he needed RM80,000 for medical treatment; that was the last time the parents heard from him. — Bernama