Families call on Thai authorities to help teenagers stuck in Myanmar under work contract

A group of parents and grandparents say their teenage children were trafficked to work in Myanmar and are now calling on Thai authorities to bring them back home. The families in Tak’s Mae Sot border district say 10 teenagers, between the ages of 16 and 19, were promised jobs at a casino just across the border in the neighbouring country, but apparently the teens were forced to sign a contract in Chinese, which they could not read. The families say the teenagers are now being overworked and underpaid.

One teen’s grandparents told Nation Thailand that a group of Thais called “Boker” promised their grandson a position as the administrator of an online gambling group with a monthly salary of 24,000 baht. They say the company also promised free housing and food as well as paid holidays.

“However, Boker trafficked our grandchild and nine other victims to a casino run by Chinese people in Myanmar. The kids were forced to sign a contract in the Chinese language that they could not read.”

Another teen’s father told Nation Thailand that once the teenagers got to Myanmar and signed the contract, they were told to work for a scheme where they tricked Thais into investing in cryptocurrency. The father says the teens have been forced to pay for food and their housing, and are working with little time to rest. He says the teens asked to go back to Thailand, but the employers told them they must pay 90,000 baht each to break the contract and travel back across the border.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand