Police are hunting an Chinese gang that allegedly held a Thai woman hostage at gunpoint at her villa in Pattaya.

Officers received a report that a Thai wife was detained by armed men at a housing estate in the Thai 'Sin City'.

They rushed to the two-storey villa, where they allegedly spotter two Chinese suspects trying to escape in a white Toyota sedan, at around 3 am on Friday morning.

Police tried to block the car with their motorcycle but were rammed. They gave chase for 12 miles before the alleged home invaders, who were familiar with local escape routes, sped off into a secluded road near the Tara Resort.

The distraught Thai wife, aged around 30 to 40, said two armed Chinese men had threatened her with guns, tied her wrists with a cable tie, and locked her inside her bedroom.

She claimed they were trying to ambush her Chinese husband, but she broke free from her restraints and ran away to seek help from her neighbours.

Police Colonel Anek Sathongyu, superintendent of Pattaya station, said: 'We have summoned the Chinese husband and the Thai wife for questioning.

‘We are also conducting a search of the two perpetrators to solve the case.

‘Both victims are still testifying confusingly, so we are unable to identify the motive for the attack. We speculate that it was a debt issue, as well as personal and business conflicts.

‘The suspects told the wife not to be scared and only to wait for her husband to come back, saying everything would be over and no one would get hurt. However, we have not ruled out the motive of targetting their properties.'

Investigators said they were reviewing CCTV footage to track down the suspects.

Pattaya has seen a surge in Chinese-linked crimes in recent months, with cases of underground scam networks, drug trafficking, and loan shark operations in the bustling resort town.