Thai boy(s) passport problems.

[gerefan2]

A Thai boy I know from Boyztown went to Kuwait in August 2018 to become a Thai Masseur. He obtained a visa and work permit before departing and worked there for one year, in accordance with his documentation.

When the year was up last August he was tricked into signing up for another year but his visa and work permit were not renewed. His employer has kept his passport “to renew the documentation”, and now refuses to return it to him, making numerous excuses. They need more staff.

The guy wants to return to Thailand and can easily get an airline ticket but is stuffed by his employers illegal retention of his passport.
There may be other issues too about his lack of current visa and work permit.

He is going to try the Embassy, but from what I have read, I doubt they will take much interest.

Anyone familiar with this and how he should proceed?i I’m sure it’s a familiar story but cannot find much on the internet.

I know this should perhaps be in the Gay World forum, but he is Thai and did work in Pattaya and I’m hoping it will get more replies here.

[Nirish guy]

Sorry for your friends problem, I know a Thai guy who encountered a similar issue in Dubai.

He decided to go to the police for help as basically he was being held against his will, but the police (needless to say) actually detained HIM and brought him straight back to his employer and insisted that HE was the one in the wrong and that HE was in breach of Contract basically for trying to leave before his agreed work term had ended and that he'd no "right" to do so and strongly suggested that he 'kept in line with his contract and carry on working without further complaint " or HE would end up being the one at fault and end up getting prosecuted and jailed !

It ended up quite obvious to him that the employers and police were both working hand in hand re this with both him and several others Thai and Flipino staff that he knew it had happened to as well and as such he realised he was going to get no where.

So In the end he did just decide to work out his contract as he was near to the end of it anyway and so when other staff came on board and after a lot of moaning and generally being a pain in his employers ass he managed to get his passport back - albeit they docked his wages and didn't pay his promised end of contract "bonus" that he'd been promised as they said 'he'd left" previously, but it at least enabled him to get out of the Country, leaving as quickly as he could and he vowed he'd never to return there. I hope your friend has better luck - but I wouldn't bet on it from various reports that I've read :-(

[Blueskytoday]

Guess they MUST turn over passport to their employer's..BUT,,,,they need to find work where they can RETAIN their passport so they
can leave any damn time they desire

[frequent]

Guess they MUST turn over passport to their employer's..BUT,,,,they need to find work where they can RETAIN their passport so they can leave any damn time they desireHolding the worker’s passport is a characteristic of “modern slavery” the world over. Almost every story about trafficked sex workers in the First World, for example, mentions it. So it’s naive to suggest that somehow work can be found without surrendering the passport

[GWMinUS]

This is too common a problem in the Middle East!! The Employers just trick the Employees. My friend in Saudi Arabia was accused of stealing from the shop where he worked. He finally decided to eat the cost of a Plane Ticket and dash back to the Philippines. He was lucky to have his Passport. In Kuwait the Filipinos have had such problems that the Philippine Govt has stepped in. Demanding the Kuwait Govt stop these "traffickers". In many cases the victims are women. It became a major Issue between the Govts. SO if he still has problems he should go directly to his Embassy! Hope they will protect him!!!

[Manforallseasons]

Are these boys working in these “deleted” countries forced to have sex with the customers?

[a447]

I know this should perhaps be in the Gay World forum, but he is Thai and did work in Pattaya

I think that's good enough reason for it to be posted here. So let's just leave it.

I recall a story by a member a few years back about a masseur friend of his in Pattaya who went to work in the Middle East as a masseur. He contacted his farang friend, pleading for help to escape back to Thailand. I believe his employer had retained his passport. I wonder what happened to him? The farang had generously offered to pay his airfare.

Knowing how the grapevine works in Pattaya I'm surprised word hasn't got out that for many, this is not a good career move.

I've heard of a number of massage guys who went to work in Korea during off-season and they apparently had more success.

[christianpfc]

A Thai friend recently told me he is planning to go to work in the Middle East. I advised against it. I hope he is clever enough to read about this on the internet.

[frequent]

A Thai friend recently told me he is planning to go to work in the Middle East. I advised against it. I hope he is clever enough to read about this on the internet.”clever enough”?? An interesting concept for a generation that believes Facebook to be the zenith of intellectual attainment and the source of all truth

[cdnmatt]

Are these boys working in these “deleted” countries forced to have sex with the customers?


Of course not. They fly them all the over to the Middle East and get them work VISAs for foot massages.

[latintopxxx]

this is not new...goes on all the time...has been going oin since day dot...at least back home they have the option of escaping the commercial sex scene by going back to isaan or wherever...but guess its a different kettle of dildos when u r trapped in an exotic foreign country populated by horny hung arabs who arent allowed near women until they actually get married

[frequent]

this is not new...goes on all the time...has been going oin since day dot...at least back home they have the option of escaping the commercial sex scene by going back to isaan or wherever...but guess its a different kettle of dildos when u r trapped in an exotic foreign country populated by horny hung arabs who arent allowed near women until they actually get married
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-15/woman-jailed-for-blackmailing-thai-nationals-in-sex-slavery-case/11708452

[neddy3]

The Middle East is a part of the world which I have no desire to visit.
For better or worse.
Good luck to the brave boys who go there.

[frequent]

The Middle East is a part of the world which I have no desire to visit. For better or worse. Good luck to the brave boys who go there. I'm waiting for you to explain your issue with the Middle East. You’ve been bagging them for ages.

[BOY69]

Just to be geographical correct
We are talking about the Arabian peninsula region and not excatly the Middle East,
Many of the foreign workers are actually working there in the worst conditions close to slavery its a pitty the Thai government do not worn their citizens to be cautious about taking
a job in this countries.

[gerefan2]

Latest...boy went to the Thai Embassy with his copies of documents on Thursday. Spar still have the originals.
They apparently phoned his boss who wouldn’t talk to them. More than I expected them to do though....

He will be going back again early next week.

[Nirish guy]

Latest...boy went to the Thai Embassy .......They apparently phoned his boss who wouldn’t talk to them. More than I expected them to do though....

Lets hope a mere phone call from a foreign embassy won't do your poor guy more harm than good when he has to then return back to his "employer".
Hope everything works out for him.

[goji]

Latest...boy went to the Thai Embassy with his copies of documents on Thursday. Spar still have the originals.
They apparently phoned his boss who wouldn’t talk to them.

It is remarkable that they did not involve the police.
In some parts of the region, past practice has been to create a harem full of forcibly detained infidels. I wonder if this mindset remains, or could the police actually be relied upon to assist your colleague with recovery of his passport ? Reading about some of the labour practices for Middle Eastern construction sites, I doubt it.

Secondly, I suggest he needs to stop working at the spa & stand there in reception kicking up a stink until his passport IS returned.

Thirdly, he needs to warn off other Thais from making the same mistake.

[BOY69]

It is remarkable that they did not involve the police.
In some parts of the region, past practice has been to create a harem full of forcibly detained infidels. I wonder if this mindset remains, or could the police actually be relied upon to assist your colleague with recovery of his passport ? Reading about some of the labour practices for Middle Eastern construction sites, I doubt it.

Secondly, I suggest he needs to stop working at the spa & stand there in reception kicking up a stink until his passport IS returned.

Thirdly, he needs to warn off other Thais from making the same mistake.

I must Correct again we are talking about the the Arabian Peninsula not the middle east !

I doubt that the Thai Embassy will help the poor boy because avoiding diplomatic conflict is more important than helping Thai masseur in trouble .Very sad fact .

[goji]

I must Correct again we are talking about the the Arabian Peninsula not the middle east !

I doubt that the Thai Embassy will help the poor boy because avoiding diplomatic conflict is more important than helping Thai masseur in trouble .Very sad fact .

I don't think the "middle east" has a formal definition like continents, but as far as I can tell, in most cases, the Arabian Peninsula is within the middle east. As shown in the example below.

The lad concerned should probably search to find out how others have escaped such a predicament. For a start, it appears to be illegal for employers to hold passports.
https://news.kuwaittimes.net/website/passports-employee-rights/

Therefore stopping work immediately and stating he will go to the police if the passport is not returned is probably the first step.

Seems like Thailand is not the only country whose workers have problems in this lovely part of the world*......
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44933748

[* Description watered down]

[gerefan2]

It is remarkable that they did not involve the police.
In some parts of the region, past practice has been to create a harem full of forcibly detained infidels. I wonder if this mindset remains, or could the police actually be relied upon to assist your colleague with recovery of his passport ? Reading about some of the labour practices for Middle Eastern construction sites, I doubt it.

Secondly, I suggest he needs to stop working at the spa & stand there in reception kicking up a stink until his passport IS returned.

Thirdly, he needs to warn off other Thais from making the same mistake.

Thanks for the reply. I'm hoping that the Embassy has a protocol for this sort of thing. Maybe firstly a call as they did. But this is Kuwait and Thailand!!

As the employer hasn't renewed his visa or work permit I'm a bit cautious of him involving the police at the moment.

Maybe another approach from the Embassy, with the threat of police and the Ministry of Labour (if they have such a thing).

I will mention your thoughts about becoming a pain in the backside to him! Did occur to me... May help! No doubt if they return the passport they would retain some salary...so what.

[cdnmatt]

May want to be careful in kciking up too much of a fuss. Countries like that have a bit different view of human rights and human value.

[goji]

A quick search of the internet shows that in this ____ ____ part of the world, despite being illegal, it's quite common for employers to take passports off overseas employees.

The Philippines apparently banned it's citizens from going to work in Kuwait until they amended the law.

The International Labour Organisation has a 28 page document with advice for Indian citizens going to work in Kuwait, which states that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should they surrender their passport to their employer.

I note there are English language forums where Filipino and other workers are bitching about the treatment, employers keeping passports and so on.
One way to help your friend might be to search all such forums for examples of people who solved the problem. That might bring more dividends than discussing it here, since many of us wouldn't even fly a plane through Kuwait, never mind contemplate living there.

[pong]

Are these boys working in these “deleted” countries forced to have sex with the customers?

Not necessarily so, allthough of course the UK-gutterpres will lump for joy at yet another discovered mishap out of the island so they can fill a page or 2.
Many more of those guys , theyre Thai after all, nah?, rather will try to fish at customers if they are also in for a little extra and a generous extra compensation for their time. But most of the staff wanted there will be female, for fairly obvious reasons.
FYI: many Thai also work in Israel, mostly agricultural. There are also reported cases of Thai wanting to go home (but most likely before contract expires) and after contacting the Thai emb. there got replacing paperwork. Thai press has also the occasional jump-for-joy report about Thai emb. helping out Thai stranded in mid-east countries without any accessible paperwork to help them get home.

[Jellybean]

Following receipt of a report from a member, using the red triangle system, the posts relating to Thai politics have been removed from this thread and moved to a new topic entitled, Thai political discussion.

A quick link to the new topic is below:
https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?21150-Thai-political-discussion

[gerefan2]

Update.
The Manager of his Spa told him that when a new employee arrived he could go back to Thailand. The new guy showed up on Thursday and he got his passport back that evening by agreeing to return in a month. The manager (as I thought) retained some pay until the next scheduled payday...a few weeks hence.
I’m pleased to say, with some rapid internet booking that night, he was on an aeroplane at 07.30 the following morning, with a one way ticket!

[goji]

I’m pleased to say, with some rapid internet booking that night, he was on an aeroplane at 07.30 the following morning, with a one way ticket!

Glad to hear it.

I hope he's going to warn as many boys as possible off going to work for in the middle east. To me it's common sense to do some background checks before going to work in a strange region. Such checks would show how they treat infidels.

However, clearly boys are conned into going there. More publicity is needed.