Tsunami boy now 'kidnapped'

2005-01-04 14:31

London - A 12-year-old boy from Sweden who apparently survived the tsunami disaster in Asia is feared to have been kidnapped in Thailand by child sex traffickers, a British newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Kristian Walker was on holiday in Khao Lak, southern Thailand with his mother Madeleine Walker, 45, his 14-year-old brother and seven-year-old sister when the catastrophe struck on December 26.

With his mother missing and feared dead, the boy's American father Dan Walker dashed to Thailand from Stockholm, and discovered the brother and sister in a Phuket hospital.

But there was no trace of Kristian, despite two doctors and a nurse who, upon seeing his photo, said they had seen him the day after the disaster, accompanied by a middle-aged European man with dark hair and a moustache.

Child sex and tourism

"The Thai police were sceptical at first, but they too are now convinced" that the boy may have been kidnapped, Walker, a volunteer paramedic and former US Marine, told The Times newspaper.

"I am working with the police every day in the search. It is a terrible situation... I believe Kristian is in the hands of traffickers and I do not think he is in the country anymore."

The Times said two Swedish police officers have arrived in Thailand, notorious as a centre for child trafficking and sex tourism, to help in the investigation.

The boy's grandfather is also in Phuket making inquiries.

- SAPA