Even though more than 100 Thai fishermen recently joined a rescue mission from "slave" vessels operating in Indonesian waters, not all found life on that country's waters brutal.
The men were repatriated from Ambon island after spending years at sea working in rough conditions on fishing vessels — but for some working on the trawlers was a new start, a way to find a new family.
Some of the fishermen voluntarily travelled to Indonesia to look for work, while others had no choice.
Many of the workers were abused and desperately wanted to leave Indonesia, but a lucky few were able to adjust to their new surroundings.
Phongsathon "Moo" Bunon, 20, who refused to tell his family he was in Indonesia, was one of the lucky ones because he found life bearable at sea, married an Indonesian and changed his religion.
"I am not alone now. I have two beautiful daughters. And I have converted to Islam," said Mr Phongsathon, who left to work on the fishing boats in Indonesia at the age of 14.
Mr Phongsathon was the youngest of the 68 fishermen repatriated on an air force C-130 transport airplane on April 8.
His wife and daughters stayed in Indonesia.
"It was unbelievable when I met my Thai family again after six years," he said, adding the worst thing he suffered was homesickness.
Recalling his life before going to Indonesia, Mr Phongsathon said his parents worked in different provinces, which meant they could not look after him.
His parents sent him to live with his grandmother, but she was unable to look after him due to financial and physical problems.
"I felt unwanted. I was kicked from here to there like a football," he said.
He decided to quit school after his Prathom six (Grade 6) graduation in 2009 to look for work. "I do not blame my family for being poor. I decided to do everything on my own. I am responsible for all the consequences," he said.
Without telling his family of his plan, Mr Phongsathon managed to arrange a meeting with a man who found him a job overseas.
"I voluntarily went off to Indonesian waters," he said in an interview with the Bangkok Post.
After a few months at sea, he decided to call his grandmother in Isan to check if his salary had been transferred to her account. She told him she had received 10,000 baht.
After that phone call, and because his family now knew he was working overseas, Mr Phongsathon stopped contacting them.
During his six years at sea, Mr Phongsathon claims he was never abused and he only decided to move back to Thailand because he missed his family.
A lack of ways to get in touch with his family, his job and new wife and kids were the main factors for him not staying in touch, according to Mr Phongsathon.
Mr Phongsathon said he would not go back to Indonesia to work but he does need to return at some stage to get his wife and daughters.
"My wife and two daughters are waiting for me. I have to get back to bring them here and live with me in Thailand," said Mr Phongsathorn.
He plans to find work again on a fishing vessel so he can give his children the education he never had.
"I do not want my girls to be like me — illiterate. Getting an education will give them better choices in life.
"I want my girls to have the chance of a better life than me," he said.
Another fishermen who returned to Thailand, Detchaphong Chaisawaneeyakorn, 25, from Surin province, had no choice but to take his journey to Indonesia.
Along with 20 other fishermen, Mr Detchaphong was repatriated from Ambon island to Bangkok on March 29.
Before he went to Indonesia, he worked at a perfume factory in Nakhon Pathom for almost a year in 2011, but his life was turned upside down as he waited in a queue to buy a ticket at Mor Chit bus terminal.
"Two men approached me, saying they could give me a job with a good salary. I had to work only from 6pm to 8pm and I would get 10,000 baht a night in exchange. I immediately accepted it without asking what kind of job I was going to do," he said.
"They were dressed in normal clothes. Nothing made them look like criminals. I even felt safe talking to them.
"However, I was unaware that what they had offered me would take me far away from home," he added.
Without asking any questions, Mr Detchaphong said he was taken to an old house in a slum area of Bangkok where he rested for a day or two.
The following day, they told Mr Detchaphong to get ready for work and gave him a fake seaman's book.
He was later taken to a fishing boat in Samut Prakan before it sailed to Indonesian waters.
Mr Detchaphong said he felt he had no choice once he was taken to the boat but to work on it because he was scared he would suffer physical violence.
He said he once witnessed a Thai man who supervised the crew pour boiling water over his Lao friend.
"My friend did not do a good job, so he was punished, but we never thought the punishment could be something so cruel," he said.
"If we did not obey the employer's rules, we would be slapped and beaten."
Mr Detchaphong, however, has faith that under the current government working conditions on fishing boats will improve and the Thai workers who are still in Indonesia will get all the assistance they need.