Thai woman trapped in Dubai seeking 100k ransom, desperate parents plead for help

[webfact]

 

A Thai mother is pleading with authorities to help her 38 year old daughter, Kornkamon, who is being held captive in Dubai and forced to work to repay a debt. The daughter had travelled to Dubai to work since mid-April; however, her captors now demand a ransom of 100,000 baht.

 

The tearful parent, 59 year old Pranuan, informed police in Udon Thani province of Kornkamon’s predicament. Kornkamon, also known as ‘Koy,’ initially went to Dubai to work as a massage therapist due to poverty and to repay her significant debts.

 

Two weeks ago, Koy contacted a foreign friend, Robert, requesting help in escaping from Dubai as she was being held against her will. She had almost paid her debt off, but her captors informed her that she still owed 100,000 baht. However, Koy refused to work further and was subsequently locked up with several other women. Robert advised Pranuan to file a report and seek assistance.

 

by Tara Abhasakun

Photo by Khaosod.

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/crime/thai-woman-trapped-in-dubai-seeking-100k-ransom-desperate-parents-plead-for-help

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-06-05

 

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[JeffersLos]

GoFundRobert

 

Please help him pay 100,000b to her mother immediately. 

[it is what it is]

 

don;t think the RTP have much jurisdiction in dubai... better go to lobby her local MP or the foreign office, or better still... facebook

[Pique Dard]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

a massage therapist

many synonyms for the oldest trade in the world

[herfiehandbag]

1 hour ago, Pique Dard said:

many synonyms for the oldest trade in the world

Perhaps, does it justify her being held against her will and being forced to work as a slave?

[sikishrory]

I've known a handful of Thai women over the years drawn to working in shady massage scenarios overseas that they seem totally oblivious too.

Even trying to explain stories like this to them doesn't seem to deter them.

If you're going to go and work in some place renowned for disrespecting women as a pretty little Thai women for some agent you barely know anything about then you're asking for trouble.

 

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

However, Koy refused to work further and was subsequently locked up with several other women. Robert advised Pranuan to file a report and seek assistance.

Talk to the embassy.

[hotchilli]

23 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

Perhaps, does it justify her being held against her will and being forced to work as a slave?

If she really is?

[steven100]

if she's 38 she is only a masseuse,  nothing else involved.    sorry lovey '    you'll have to wait in line .....    there's a bar girl stuck in China wanting cash,   so you may have a long wait .

[jacko45k]

16 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Talk to the embassy.

Although I presume the Embassy is in Abu Dhabi... maybe a consulate in Dubai. They might get the local police involved on her behalf. 

[quake]

100,000 seams to be the going rate for this now days. 

Next 

 

 

[ChrisY1]

She should contact Thaksin…he’s a helpful fellow….:)

[ChipButty]

The Thai embassy used to pay for their citizens to get back to Thailand not sure if that's still the case,

[phetphet]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

if she's 38 she is only a masseuse,  nothing else involved.    sorry lovey '    you'll have to wait in line .....    there's a bar girl stuck in China wanting cash,   so you may have a long wait .

Both wanting 100,000. Seems to be the number of the day.

[RichardColeman]

Have PC plod actually checked her passport account ? Seems an awful lot of 'ransoms' being request - new trend for kids to get money ? 

[Pedrogaz]

Perhaps it's best if Thai girls don't go to work as 'massage therapists' in the Middle East. Think carefully before you go there.

[herfiehandbag]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Talk to the embassy.

I doubt that she, as effectively an enslaved person, has any means to talk to the embassy. I further doubt if her family in Thailand have the first idea how to contact the embassy - or enough influence to get the Thai government moving.

 

In the UK certainly, the fight would be taken up by the victims MP. Maybe with the emergence of a new style in politics here...

[herfiehandbag]

15 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

Perhaps it's best if Thai girls don't go to work as 'massage therapists' in the Middle East. Think carefully before you go there.

Almost certainly so. For all the in flight videos of winged horses and prayers for travelers, those regimes are essentially medieval, and extremely racist, in their approach to treating those that they regard as inferiors.

 

However unwise she was to go there, this lady is trapped there, is being held there against her will, enslaved. She is far from the only one, I have heard from my Filipino friends some absolute horror stories of the way they treat girls who go there to work as teachers and nurses, let alone as maids or domestic servants. Personally I think it is something that demands the attention of the International community. After all, 180 years ago we (quite rightly) put a stop to the practice of shipping African people in chains across the Atlantic to work on plantations. Well this is a modern day version of the same phenomenon, and should be stopped for exactly the same reasons.

[sammieuk1]

Send in Prawit to sort it out he has the time now ????

[Bangkok Barry]

20 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

Perhaps it's best if Thai girls don't go to work as 'massage therapists' in the Middle East. Think carefully before you go there.

Yes. Her story is hardly unique. But so many Thais live in their own little bubble and have no idea what goes on outside of it.

[Enzian]

10 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

Personally I think it is something that demands the attention of the International community.

After the international community resolves that little problem going on in Burma.

[herfiehandbag]

3 minutes ago, Enzian said:

After the international community resolves that little problem going on in Burma.

Yes, there are many problems which cry out for international attention. Burma is certainly one.

 

You have to start somewhere. The Gulf States are perhaps more vulnerable to international ( Western) pressure.

[sqwakvfr]

If a foreign national is being held for ransom in the UAE then how about contacting the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs for guidance? I do believe there is a Thai Embassy in Abu Dhabi as well?  If both agencies do nothing (this is probably more true than not)  then at least one could state we have exhausted all options and need others to assist.  

[oxo1947]

Come on Robert---send her the money,................It's better than the Buffalo story.

[rudi49jr]

6 hours ago, sikishrory said:

I've known a handful of Thai women over the years drawn to working in shady massage scenarios overseas that they seem totally oblivious too.

Even trying to explain stories like this to them doesn't seem to deter them.

If you're going to go and work in some place renowned for disrespecting women as a pretty little Thai women for some agent you barely know anything about then you're asking for trouble.

 

Jeez, and it’s probably also their own fault when women wearing short skirts and tight shirts get raped? Nice piece of victim blaming. 
But then again, I’ve noticed that quite a few members of this forum are a little empathy-impaired, to say the least.

[PETERTHEEATER]

7 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Talk to the embassy.

Yes. They could put her touch with a fellow citizen nicknamed 'Tony' who will get her a seat on his bizjet.

[NoDisplayName]

6 hours ago, ChipButty said:

The Thai embassy used to pay for their citizens to get back to Thailand not sure if that's still the case,

Not if yesterdays gofundme was correct.  Thai lady in Shanghai was sent by consulate there to Thai embassy in Beijing, and is being told she needs 100k baht to pay for repatriation.

[KannikaP]

7 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Although I presume the Embassy is in Abu Dhabi... maybe a consulate in Dubai. They might get the local police involved on her behalf. 

I was asked to help a family girl in similar circumstances last February as I was on holiday in Dubai at the time. She had got herself to the Consulate, who sorted accommodation for her, and I lent her Bht 40,000 for a flight back here, which the Consulate arranged.

Before you ask, YES I did get the money back from her mother next day.

[Sigma6]

5 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Yes. Her story is hardly unique. But so many Thais live in their own little bubble and have no idea what goes on outside of it.

It should also be noted that each year 1000s of thai girls seek to get a massage job in the middle east, knowing full well what is expected of them.

 

The prospect of free room and board, with a relatively high salary (and the potential 'tips') is tempting to the girls, and also to their families....

 

These entrapment stories with dodgy pimps adding debts, and taking their passports are pretty rare.
 

[sikishrory]

2 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

Jeez, and it’s probably also their own fault when women wearing short skirts and tight shirts get raped? Nice piece of victim blaming. 
But then again, I’ve noticed that quite a few members of this forum are a little empathy-impaired, to say the least.

Let's not confuse caution with victim blaming. It's like saying short skirts cause assault – not the same thing. I believe in empathy, but also in raising awareness about the risks.