Kendrapada/Bhadrak: Six workers, hailing from Rajkanika in Kendrapada district and Chandbali in Bhadrak district, have appealed to the Odisha government to facilitate their safe return from Thailand.
They had travelled to the Southeast Asia country in August last year after being promised jobs at a plywood factory with a salary of Rs 25,000 each and free lodging and boarding facility.
According to their video appeals, the men claimed to have received no wages for the past four months. The employer has allegedly withheld their passports and routinely threatens police action if they demand their pending salaries.
The situation worsened in the last four days as the mess stopped providing cooked food, leaving them without meals, and the WiFi in their accommodation was disconnected to prevent them from contacting their family back home.
The workers shared that they recorded these videos by borrowing internet access from others.
They have urged the Odisha government for urgent intervention, and their rescue and safe repatriation, highlighting the exploitative conditions they are enduring in Thailand.
A similar incident was reported in 2024 when 12 workers from Kendrapada sent a video to their parents, alleging that they were being held captive by their employer in a plywood factory at Bang Bua Thong in Thailand.
