His love is abduction - the transnational human trafficker I met in Cambodia

The night shift at the hotel counter is often understaffed. If I am free, I will help with some small things at the counter. My friend P, who was standing at the counter together, told me excitedly that he had met a big boss. The big boss is from Malaysia (sometimes it's Singapore, he can't tell the two countries), he's Chinese, and he's very good.

"Like you, Chinese, very smart. He is very rich, and he asks two or three young ladies to sleep with him every day." P said, "You are also very smart, and you will definitely be as rich as him in the future."

"I don't want to be like him, it's disgusting." I rolled my eyes at P.

The big boss came to the counter with his arms around the two girls. P and the other tuk-tuk drivers gallantly flattered them, handing them water and laughing. The big boss put his hand into the girls' collars and pinched them. The scene was as ugly as it was ugly.

"Are you from Taiwan?" The big boss suddenly turned his head and asked me in Mandarin.

"Yes."

"Coming to Cambodia? Staying for so long?"

"Come to work, I'm writing a travel guide."

"Oh! Writer! Is that rich?"

"No, I'm dead poor."

"How can a writer be poor? You lied to me."

"I'm not a big writer, I'm not famous, I have no money."

He saw that my reaction was cold, and he continued to brag with other Cambodians in English.

From time to time, the big boss will tell people to go to KTV together. In Siem Reap, KTV is mostly a hotel accompanied by a young lady. The hotel staff, including the receptionist at the counter and the tuk-tuk driver, would happily follow along as long as they were not on duty. Sometimes P would tell me that they made an appointment with which general through whom, and this general would help expand the business, Barabara.

One day, P was going to go to Phnom Penh with me. His hometown is in the countryside of Phnom Penh. He stopped by to visit his family. He suddenly sent a message to me that the big boss was also going, saying that he was going to visit his family and others would also go. I already had my itinerary planned, so what I had planned to do might not be possible, so I replied, "Then you can go, I'll stay in Phnom Penh and do my work, and go separately." A few days later, P sent me a message complaining that the big boss was in a wrong state, he had been borrowing money from P, and his girlfriend was visiting everywhere in the village, saying that he wanted to take the girls from the village to Malaysia to make a lot of money.

"He's brokering prostitution! Can't you get rid of him?" I said.

"We think so too. But we can't leave him. I have to get him out of the village quickly." P replied.

The situation was very chaotic later, P began to flicker, and stopped telling me the truth. Before heading back to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh, I was forced by P to have dinner with their group. I don't know why Cambodians are so afraid of tearing their faces. Human relationships seem to be more important than anything else. Even if their cousin is about to be sold by the villain in front of them, they still insist on maintaining peace on the table.

At the dining table, the big boss was sitting with his "girlfriend". This girlfriend is a local Cambodian with heavy make-up and doesn't speak English very well. At first glance, she can tell that she is a practitioner in the porn industry. There are so many people working in pornography in Cambodia that the various tragic reasons will not be detailed, they have no choice. P and his friends all kept a distance from the lady and did not speak to her. The big boss stroked her back as if he was petting a cat, and laughed repeatedly in English: "Angry Bird, always angry."

This "girlfriend" cleaned dishes, glasses, wine, and vegetables for the big boss. Her eyes revealed her thoughts, and she expected the man in front of her to save her, whether it was from poverty or other misfortunes. This determination made her willing to do anything, including abducting and selling her fellow citizens.

I don't know if the big boss later succeeded in selling P's cousins to Malaysia. The big boss has several "girlfriends", all of whom are locals. His methods are all the same. Through the kinship of these "girlfriends" and other people, he goes to remote villages to find innocent young girls and trick them into helping them. It's prostitution.

"Can't I call the police?" I asked P.

P looked at me embarrassedly, and said, "What do you think the general's purpose was to befriend that general?"

Originally published in " Independent Review@World ", 2016/06/12.