He said he witnessed at least 15 fishermen being tortured and shot by captains and crewmembers because they were sick and asking for medicine. The men’s bodies were thrown into the sea.
“I was very sad seeing my colleagues killed. But I could do nothing except feel sad. They have pistols and we have nothing. We can’t go against them,” Maung Htay said of his captors.
Through the five years he was held prisoner at sea, Maung Htay had no money. Whatever salary he earned was paid to the brokers who had sold him to work on the fishing boats. When he realized that he would likely never be released, and could die in the sea, Maung Htay resolved to risk everything to escape.