Thai man rescued after two years of abuse by employers

A Thai man has been rescued and hospitalised after enduring two years of severe abuse and torture at the hands of his employers, a husband and wife, due to his inability to meet their sales targets.

The 38 year old Thai man, Kong, was accompanied by social media activist Guntouch Pongpaiboonwet, also known as Gun Jompalang, when he filed a police report in Non Thai district, Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday.

Visible injuries covered Kong’s body, with his buttocks severely infected from welts, whip marks on his legs, and open wounds on his head. He also lost a tooth during one of the assaults.

Police documented the injuries with photographs as evidence.

Kong recounted that he met the couple over a decade ago in his hometown of Chiang Mai before moving to Nakhon Ratchasima to work for them. Initially, everything was normal, and he received his salary regularly.

However, the situation deteriorated over the past two years. Kong claimed that his salary had ceased, and his ATM card was confiscated by his employer under the pretext of preventing wasteful spending.

His employers began to blame him for failing to meet sales targets and started punishing him physically. The specifics of the business or its products were not disclosed by Guntouch.

Kong was provided with only one meal a day, typically plain rice, if he failed to make a sale. He reported being whipped over 1,000 times and subjected to electric shocks on his abdomen and genitals.

When Kong lost consciousness from the beatings, they would revive him to continue the abuse.

Despite contemplating escape multiple times, Kong feared for his family’s safety, as his employers threatened to seize his house and land.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Tawat Boonkaeha, the deputy inspector of the Non Thai Police Station, stated that the couple will be summoned to acknowledge the charges, reported Bangkok Post.