Four Thai women in Myanmar have asked to be repatriated after saying they had been duped by an illegal job broker on TikTok to work as PR staff but were forced to work as prostitutes.
The story surfaced after a video posted on the Ninja Today Facebook fan page on Wednesday showed two Thai women asking for help to bring them back home.
“Help us, please. We want to come back home. We were dupped to work in Myanmar,” one of the women said tearfully. “We have contacted every Thai government agency that we know of, but nobody helped us. They only told us to wait. Please help us.”
The video description stated that the woman was from Ubon Ratchathani and that she and three of her friends were promised work in Tachileik, a border town across from Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai, but instead they were sent to Mong Pauk to work as prostitutes in June.
Mong Pauk is a city in the independent Wa State, only 10 kilometres from the border with China. It is known for entertainment venues that target mainly Chinese visitors.
One of the women, a 35-year-old from Ubon Ratchathani who went by the name of Kay, said the recruiter promised good pay, free accommodation and food plus covering transport costs from Thailand to Tachileik.
The women applied for the job, received 10,000 baht to cover travel costs, and travelled to Mae Sai. Kay said one man brought them to Tachileik via a natural border crossing. They were transported for another six hours to another town, where they realised they had been duped.
After arriving at Mong Pauk, Kay and her friend had to work as prostitutes, or they would be beaten and starved, she said.
Fortunately, they could still use their mobile phones and call for help, she said.
They sent photos and videos to the Facebook page of CSI LA, which later contacted Baan Hia Charn, the Ubon Ratchathani-based shelter for vulnerable people, for help contacting the victims’ families.
Representatives of Baan Hia Charn also contacted the police chief of Ubon Ratchathani, Pol Col Khanongrit Dara, local politicians and the owner of the Ninja Today Facebook page for help.
CSI LA said 1.2 million baht needed to be raised to pay for the freedom of the four women.
Pol Col Khanongrit said he had filed a report about the four victims to his commander. The police can help them in Ubon Ratchathani after they return to Thailand, he said.