A South African woman is in a desperate bid to return home after a fake job promise ended with her stranded in Thailand with R1,800 in her pocket and a fake plane ticket.
The plight of the 30-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, came under the spotlight when department of international relations and cooperation spokesperson Clayson Monyela was tagged in a post on X on Sunday, appealing for his help.
The post explained the woman was “involved in a human trafficking scam” she knew nothing about.
It said that the job seeker had travelled to the southeast Asian country just days before with another woman, who has since disappeared.
“We saw her post on Facebook and quickly responded. We managed to book accommodation for her until Tuesday, but we can't get her back to South Africa because we have no money.”
Monyela confirmed that he spoke to the woman and that she was safe.
He told Sowetan that the woman was at a hostel, and an organisation that helps South Africans in Thailand had managed to raise some of the money for her to return home.
“They have managed to raise R3,000, which is half the money for the ticket, which is R6,500. So I decided to pay the rest from my pocket,” he said.
According to Monyela, the woman is from Brakpan and heard about a call centre job from someone in her neighbourhood.
TimesLIVE Premium contacted her for an update on the situation. She confirmed that she was still in Thailand as she has still to raise her half for the plane ticket.
“We're still contributing. I'm still working on that and looking for donations for the flight. I'm still here,” she said.
The woman confirmed that she had spoken to Monyela, who asked her to alert him once she had raised her portion of the funds.
“No-one has sent anything as yet, but he [Monyela] said he's going to be able to donate half the flight ticket. I'm also waiting for some friends who promised to contribute.”
The woman confirmed she was booked into a hostel until Tuesday but added that one of the women from the group who had assisted her, SA Ladies in Thailand, offered her a place to stay until the impasse is resolved.
She praised the group for the help they had offered since she had reached out to them.
She explained that she was told of the job opportunity two weeks ago by her aunt's friend, who said her son had secured the same job in Thailand.
She then submitted the necessary details, secured an online interview and underwent a medical check-up as requested by the company.
At first it was hurtful for me not to get the job because I felt like at last I was leaving SA for greener pastures. So it was hurtful for me not to get the job because of the STI but I calmed down later on when I spoke to the ladies and [realised] that I survived something [worse]
“There was also another lady who was being interviewed at the same time, but she was waiting for her passport. I already had a passport, so I was waiting for her to get hers.
“They then booked our flights for the same day so we can travel together. They said they had booked return flights so I asked them why ... and they explained that when you are travelling you need to book a return flight just in case something happens.”
This pacified her and the duo flew to Thailand. Before they left, each woman was given R10,000 “pocket money” which they converted to dollars.
When the women arrived at their destination they found someone waiting for them.
The person, who spoke no English and relied on an app translator to communicate, told them he would transport them to the hotel they were booked into, but he drove them somewhere else for several hours.
When the woman questioned this, she was told there had been a change of plan.
Despite this, the woman said no alarm bells went off “because whenever I [had previously] asked questions, they would respond in a satisfactory manner. So we were relaxed”, she said.
After driving for about 11 hours, the group switched cars and drove for another 40 minutes to what appeared to be a border post.
They drove for a further 30 minutes, crossed a river and eventually arrived at a mini-complex, she said.
They met the man they had been interacting with from the onset, who informed them that they needed to have another medical check-up — this time for HIV and STIs.
They were also given “contracts” to sign which indicated that they would be required to work for three years before being allowed to go home.
When the Brakpan woman questioned this, especially given that they arrived using tourist visas, she was told not to worry as the “company” would foot the bill for their extended and illegal stay.
“They said that's how it will work; that's why we came in using a tourist visa. They also told us not to worry, 'we'll fix your sim cards and all that, but for now we need to check for HIV and STIs'.
“Lucky for me, they [detected a STI] in my urine and the guy ... was so angry. I was surprised why someone would be so angry about this when it's a call centre job, because I can always take antibiotics,” she recalled.
The two women were separated, and the woman with the clean sample was taken somewhere else while the Brakpan woman was told she wouldn't be hired because of her diagnosis. She was then booked into a hotel at the same complex and given $100 for food.
She checked out the next day (August 15) and found a car already waiting for her. She was then driven to a shopping centre 12 hours away from Bangkok, where she was dropped off with a promise that another car was coming.
“I waited there till the evening and then the police came and told me I'm not allowed to sleep outside the mall and that they had seen me there the whole day.
“They then bought me food, and I explained my situation to a translator. They booked me into a hotel, and the following day, they helped me convert the money I had, and I booked a bus back to Bangkok.
“I went to the airline to try to change the dates of the ticket, but I found that the flight ticket was fake. I then tried texting the guy who facilitated everything to tell him what happened, but he blocked me,” she said.
It then hit her that she was stranded and alone, but despite this realisation, she still believes the job offer was legitimate and that her diagnosis put a spanner in the works.
She reached out to the group on Facebook and they jumped in to assist her.
They told her there were no call centre jobs in Thailand but rather teaching posts.
It was then that she questioned the legitimacy of the company.
“I later found out we were in a red zone and had actually left Thailand,” she said.
The woman said she kept in touch with her companion, who told her she was OK but was worried about the former's safety. She found their interactions suspicious due to the nature of the responses.
“At first, it was hurtful for me not to get the job because I felt like at last I was leaving South Africa for greener pastures. So it was hurtful for me not to get the job because of the STI, but I calmed down later when I spoke to the ladies and [realised] that I survived something [worse].”
