Fears are growing for a missing British teenager who is believed to have been lured into working at a scam compound in lawless Myanmar.

Computer whizz kid Lawrence Honour, 19, was last seen leaving a hotel in Kanchanaburi, western Thailand, before attempting to cross the border into the civil war-ravaged neighbour on September 27.

His desperate parents have not seen him or heard from him since.

Thai police officers are now searching for the youngster amid fears he is being held in one of the notorious call centre factories controlled by Chinese gangs and Burmese militia that subject workers to torture and extortion.

Lawrence's mother Gulnara Honour, who lives in Chonburi province with the teen's British father Julian Honour, said: 'Lawrence left home on September 26 and we were unable to contact him. I filed a report at Pattaya City Police Station.

'I checked my son's email and found records of his movements in Kanchanaburi province, which was very worrying. He's a very shy nd quiet boy but he is excellent with computers.

'I'm afraid that he has spoken to people online and be tricked into going to one of these scam centres in Myanmar, where they don't let people leave.'

CCTV footage showed Lawrence leaving a hotel resort in Kanchanaburi on September 27 at around 3.30 pm. He then attempted to enter Myanmar but was sent back by border guards who explained the crossing was closed due to the ongoing conflict in the country.

Later he allegedly tried to climb a nearby fence to enter the country but authorities caught him and sent him away.

Witnesses said he was seen the same evening, hitchhiking before being picked up by a passing teacher. Officers are now searching for the driver who is believed to have collected the teenager.

Police Colonel Santi Phitaksakul, superintendent of Sangkhlaburi district station, said: 'The boy's mother said she still has hope. She doesn't know how he came here.

'The last time she was able to contact him, he was already in Sangkhlaburi. Someone later saw him at Sai Yok Waterfall, where he was hitchhiking and said he was heading toward the border. A Thai driver who passed by wanted to help, so he gave him a ride.

'We now believe he may have crossed into Myanmar. Immigration officers at the border reported that he came to the checkpoint and tried to leave, but they didn't allow him to exit because the border was closed.

'They arranged for him to be put on a van to return home, but it turned out he never got on because police later checked with the van company and confirmed he didn't buy a ticket.

'Witnesses said he waited around for a while, and when someone asked what he was doing, he said he was waiting for a friend. But he couldn't cross, as officers had refused him.

'At this stage, police have asked the military to coordinate with Myanmar to help locate him. Informants have reported sightings of someone resembling him in Myanmar, and we are waiting for confirmation.

'As for why he went there, there are many possibilities. He may have been persuaded by someone; it doesn't seem like he went just for tourism. We need to trace his movements to verify whether he went to a casino or elsewhere. It is suspected he may have crossed through natural routes, possibly with the help of people on the Myanmar side who know the paths well.'

Myanmar, formerly Burma, was plunged into armed conflict and civil war when democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was removed by a military coup in February 2021.

In the lawless environment, methamphetamine production has flourished alongside call centre scam compounds operated by gangs that target people around the world with financial and romance scams.

In September 2025, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified nine targets operating in Shwe Kokko, Myanmar, along with ten entities in Cambodia, for their roles in large-scale scam operations.

The OFAC also imposed sanctions on the Karen National Army (KNA) and its leader,r Saw Chit Thu (and his sons), for involvement in cyber scams, human trafficking, and smuggling.

Serious human rights concerns have also been raised about how the centres are staffed. Reports from the United Nations, NGOs, and regional governments show that the way the gangs recruit, transport, and control workers often amounts to human trafficking and forced labor.

Evidence shows that the workers are often subjected to trafficking, cross-border abductions, forced labor and slavery-like conditions, physical abuse, torture, debt bondage and extortion.