Hong Kong man flies to Thailand to meet online lover, end up trafficked to Myanmar

A man from Hong Kong who traveled to Thailand to meet his "lover" was sent to Myanmar by a human trafficking gang, where he was detained and abused for a month.

The 28-year-old surnamed Tsang, who claimed to have a mild mental disability, met a woman on Instagram about three years ago and started a relationship. 

He was lured to Thailand in mid-July to meet the woman, who promised to pay for his air ticket, food, and accommodation expenses. Tsang departed with only his passport, phone, and charger.

However, his phone and passport were taken before he met his "lover" after arriving in Bangkok. He was then brought to Myanmar.

When Tsang realized something was wrong and asked to leave, the human trafficking gang refused and forced him to work as a fraudster and beat him up if he did not comply.

Tsang said he was beaten almost every day, and sometimes even tasered, leaving long wounds all over his body. 

He said that the living environment was horrible. Some people were even chained up and not allowed to go to the toilet. There were some armed men in suspected military uniforms to prevent them from escaping.

Tsang was eventually detained for more than a month and was transferred four times to different locations. He said he was lucky that his organs were not harvested for sale on the black market.

After his family paid the ransom, Tsang was taken to the Thai border and picked up by relatives living in Thailand. He then traveled back to Bangkok with his relatives and flew back to Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Tsang said he did not dare to walk around Bangkok as he was "worried about being caught again". He was afraid to disclose too much in the interview but decided to share his experience after knowing others from Hong Kong have suffered from similar experiences. He hopes the government could assist those who are still being held by gangs in Southeast Asia.