A British traveller has disappeared in Thailand after telling his parents that a man had taken him to an island and “wouldn’t let him leave”.
Jordan Jacobs, 21, went missing after accepting a free ride to one of the Phi Phi islands from a man on the mainland, days before he was due to fly home for Christmas.
The next day, the backpaker sent a message to his mother saying he was scared of the man, would never see them again and was sorry he could not have said goodbye.
His worried family from Lyneham, Wilts., are pleading for his safe return and fear he is being held against his will.
His sister, Emily, said she thinks Jordan accepted a ride to Ko Phi Phi Don from a Thai man in his 20s, who he met near a laundrette by the Pak Up hostel, in mainland Krabi.
Later he borrowed a phone from another traveller to make contact with his family.
The family believes his disappearance is connected to the Thai man, who Jordan’s backpacker friends say either owns or works on a farm on Ko Phi Phi Don.
The incident has also raised questions about the safety of backpackers in Thailand and what tips they should follow to stay safe.
Emily said: “This is not like my brother. Only last week he was talking about coming home for Christmas.
“Saturday morning my mum received a message via Facebook from my brother which basically said he can never see us again, that he is sorry he can’t see us one last time, that he loved us etc.
“He was upset and said that the man wouldn’t let him leave. That he was scared of him.”
Emily said she had a brief phone call with her brother on Monday in which he told her he had “said too much” and “can’t talk”.
She added: “There was no more contact until Monday morning where my brother appeared online.
“After a few attempts I was able to speak to him on the phone using the Facebook WiFi messenger.
“I was on the phone for 90 seconds. He couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me where he was. He said ‘I need to keep you all safe’.
“I asked if he was ok, where he was, and he said ‘I’ve said too much. I can’t talk. I love you.’ And that was it. We’ve had no contact since.”
Jordan had been travelling in Australia and south-east Asia since November 2014 and was due to return home on Thursday on a flight from Bangkok.
The Foreign Office said: “We can confirm that a British national, Jordan Jacobs, was reported missing in Thailand on 12 December. We are providing consular assistance to the family.”
In her Facebook post Emily said: “We are being contacted hourly by people from around the world offering to help or with information.
“From the bottom of my heart, Thank you for all of your generosity.
“Any information no matter how small you think it is could be could be huge. Any sightings or potential sightings. Any contact. Anything.
“We want to have him home safe.”
Jordan is around 5ft 6in tall with tanned skin, dark hair, brown eyes, a beard and distinctive tattoos on his arms and chest.
The Thai man has been described as in his late 20s, wearing Levi’s jeans, and being dressed clothes giving him ‘a cowboy look’.
