I was kidnapped and forced to be a maid for a wealthy man in Thailand. This is my story.

The Rescue and Return Home

I tried to contact anyone in the US. I hoped that my message would reach them. There was only one bar of signal that flickered in and out, so I grabbed the phone and walked around the room to find a better signal. I couldn’t find any, so I climbed on top of the desk.

Adrenaline flowed through me at the thought of being caught. I scrolled through the phone’s contacts. Finally, I found a spot where the signal stayed lit. I quickly dialed a number, but it was difficult as my hands were trembling.

The phone rang. The ringing felt like an eternity, and I was sure no one would answer until I heard a voice on the other side saying, “Hello”.

I felt my muscles finally relax. I was so relieved they answered. I said hello and asked if they could hear me. They asked me who I was, and I told them.

I told them everything from the guy who invited me out to dinner over a year ago by this point to the weeks in a basement to now being trapped in a mansion in Thailand.

I begged them desperately to help me. They said they needed my exact location, and I couldn’t tell them anything but it was a large mansion with many rooms and was owned by what I assumed was a government official in Thailand.

I asked if they could track the phone call to see my location. I begged and pleaded that they find me. They said they’d do everything to help me.

I thanked them over and over and told them not to call this phone again.

Just then I heard footsteps walking up to the door. I panicked. I hung up the phone, threw it back in the drawer that I found it in, and continued cleaning. My heart raced.

The door creaked open, and the man entered. He looked at me and smiled. I forced a calm smile, hoping he hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

The morning after I made the secret phone call was really strange. The mansion was super quiet. It felt like I could barely breathe. I barely slept that night. Every little noise made me jump.

But the next morning I saw the sunrise and knew it was time for me to start my day. All day as I cleaned and moved around the house, I felt like the man was watching me. He had smiled at me the day before right after I hid the phone back in the drawer.

Did he know something?

I tried to act normal, but my heart was racing. As I finished my work for the day, I was super tired, but I couldn’t relax. I didn’t know if the police would come to rescue me or if the man would find out I called for help.

Days turned into weeks as I waited for the police to come. Each hour felt more agonizing than the last. During this time, I kept doing my job as usual, cleaning and helping around the big mansion, making sure everything looked perfect.

I was really careful so that the man who owned the house and the other maids wouldn’t notice anything different about me. They all went about their day like robots, doing their tasks perfectly and not talking much.

Every chance I got, I would secretly check the cell phone I had found. The signal was still weak, just a tiny bar that barely let me send out any messages. I would quickly text to let someone know I was still okay and where I was in the house, then hide the phone again.

I had to act normal like nothing was wrong, even though I was really scared inside. When the man looked at me or when I had to talk to the other maids, I made sure my face didn’t show how nervous I was.

I just focused on my work, setting the table or cleaning, trying not to let them see any fear. The man sometimes watched me a little too closely, making me worry he might be getting suspicious. I had to be really careful not to mess up.

I would line up the forks and knives just right and keep my head down, hoping he wouldn’t notice anything unusual.

Finally, the day I had been waiting for arrived. I heard many sirens outside and saw many flashing lights at the front gate of the mansion from a window.

I watched his agents, people in uniforms who seem to be more powerful than regular police. Representatives of the US Embassy walked in to talk to the man who had kept us there.

He was really upset, waving his arms around as he spoke with the officers. He seemed to think it was okay to have us work for him because he was paying us like we were just regular employees.

One of the officers came over to me quietly while this was all happening. He signaled that it was time to leave. My heart was pounding as they took me away from there.

We walked past the man and the agent arguing, and they got me in the car safely. The look of betrayal on the man’s face as I was escorted by authorities was burned into my memory.

We went straight to the airport, and I got on a plane going back to the US. Sitting in my seat, I kept thinking about the man arguing with the agents, still trying to claim he had done nothing wrong.

When the plane landed back home, I felt so relieved. More agents met me and told me I’d be taken to a safe place where I could rest and talk about everything when I was ready. Walking through the airport, I felt safe, but also worried about the other maids I had left behind.

I was back in the US now, and I knew I had a lot to figure out about how to get back to normal life. From that point was hard. I tried very hard to keep my story away from news articles and managed to do so successfully. Reuniting with my family was surreal, and every day now feels like a gift.