Every time Steven* looks at the buildings, fences and security personnel where he now lives, it takes him back to a compound in Myanmar where he spent nearly eight months, losing all hope of escape.
He was one of the 23 South Africans who were part of a larger group of 7,000 individuals from various countries rescued from Myanmar last month.
Steven was lured to Thailand under false pretences by an employment agency that promised him and others a lucrative job.
The jobs were advertised on various social media platforms promising them a good salary, free accommodation, comprehensive travel and all expenses paid, including other lucrative benefits.
Steven left South Africa on June 13 2024 and arrived in Myanmar the next day and spent the next eight months trapped in the compound forced into working to scam people.
Connected to the job through a friend who had also taken up the opportunity, Steven underwent several stages of interviews through video calls and everything appeared legitimate.
“They did it in such a way that everything looks normal, proper, walking through the office, seeing people walking and you don't see any torture or people screaming — they give you a sense that it's a proper job. They dangle a carrot in front of you, saying that there is potential growth.”
He said unemployment drove his interest in the job as he had been looking for work for a year and a half with no luck. All he would get were odd jobs and the income was not enough.
“When I heard of this opportunity, I was desperate,” he said.
In the last interview he underwent with a panel via a video call he said he was asked to send a copy of his passport.
“It was probably an hour later, I got a call confirming that I had a flight ticket for the next day. It was a short rush to pack and get everything ready to go to Thailand. Once we (he and his friend) reached the airport, after checking in we had to send a photo when our luggage was checked in, straight after that they deposited funds into our accounts,” he said.
Steven said R4,750 was deposited into his account and they flew with Ethiopian Airlines to Addis Ababa, then to Bangkok, where they found a neatly dressed person waiting for them.
“Everything looked legit, it really looked like you are stepping into an environment where you are going to reach somewhere with your life. It was a fancy black SUV, a well-dressed man and you are being transported in this luxury vehicle. Because we don't know Thailand that well, we drove for about eight hours, just observing the scenery and they booked us into a hotel which all seemed normal,” he said.
However, he said things started becoming irregular the next morning when they were woken up by armed personnel who rushed them to grab their luggage and get into another car.
He said they were taken on a 10-minute drive from the hotel to someone's house. After spending some time there, he said they were taken to a junk and once they crossed the river, they were greeted by more armed personnel who escorted them into another SUV and drove them to the compound.
We got frequent visits from the manager, and he would intimidate us. We didn’t know if we were even going to make it out of there
— Steven*
“It was an overwhelming feeling, at first you feel happy, you are excited for the new day and then once they pitch up you know that something is seriously wrong. Never in your life will you be transported with armed personnel. You get this feeling of wanting to escape, but you can see that these guys don't play about,” Steven said.
He explained that once in the compound they were told they were being protected from a civil war.
“But you can't shake the feeling that there is something wrong.”
He said the compound consisted of four connected parks, creating a busy, always-active world. No matter the time of day or night, there was always something happening on the streets.
“It's a bit like a smaller version of New York — always bright, always alive,” he said. Expensive cars drove through the compound, owned by office managers and business owners even though the place was not huge.
He said work happened round the clock and he often worked from 3pm to 5am, with Burmese workers cleaning the streets and maintaining the shops.
Military personnel from various Asian countries patrol the compound, wearing uniforms. Their presence made the compound feel safe and controlled.
He said the psychological toll of the situation was overwhelming. Steven admitted that he contemplated suicide three times during his time in the compound.
“I don't trust anyone any more. I’ve grown distant from people. If I can be alone, I’d be happy,” he said.
He still experiences frequent flashbacks, constantly reminded of the terror he lived through in the compound.
“Everywhere I look, I get flashbacks of being in the compound, looking for armed personnel,” he said.
The traumatic experience also strained his relationship with the friend who had notified him about the job opportunity in Myanmar.
Steven said his friend is still there, and that they had both been presented with an opportunity they didn’t fully understand at the time.
After making the decision to leave, Steven was moved to another dorm, where the intimidation continued.
“We got frequent visits from the manager, and he would intimidate us. We didn’t know if we were even going to make it out of there.”
Steven recalled the harrowing month he spent locked in a room, constantly harassed by military personnel. He described how they would perform routine searches and assert their authority, reminding them that they were still trapped in the compound.
He explained that when he and the others were finally crammed into a military cargo truck to leave, it felt surreal.
“You think that you are in a dream,” he said, recalling the overwhelming sense of disbelief, even after they reached the Thailand border, surrounded by military personnel, police and ambassadors.
“You don’t have a sense of safety as you are not out of the woods yet,” he explained, noting that the real relief came only when they finally reached the airport.
Looking back, Steven admitted that he never thought he would escape the compound. “I would reassure myself that I won’t get out of there,” he said, remembering how the constant threats from the manager had made him lose hope.
He advised people that if the interviewing process seems too good to be true, then it is too good to be true.
“Be extremely vigilant, find out more about the place, you want video footage of outside the working environment because they fooled us by showing us the video of inside the working environment,” he said.
He has expressed his interest in working with Brave to Love, an NGO that fights human trafficking and worked with authorities to rescue 23 young South Africans, to help other victims.
Dr Krinesha Messif, lecturer in social work & criminology at the University of Pretoria said common red flags include unrealistic salary expectations, lack of a formal interview process, demands for payment upfront for applications, and vague job descriptions.
Messif said overly generous benefits can be particularly suspicious, as these may indicate an attempt to lure individuals into exploitive situations.
She said individuals must undertake due diligence to authenticate international job offers.
“This can include researching the hiring company's reputation through official websites, checking for contact information and consulting independent reviews. Engaging with local labour agencies or monitoring platforms for reported scams can further illuminate the legitimacy of a job opportunity,” she said.
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