Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun is being held in a hotel room at a Bangkok airport, after being stopped by officials following a flight from Kuwait.
She fled her family, who she says beat her, threatened her, and locked her in a room for six months for cutting her hair, when they left the Kingdom on a holiday to Kuwait.
Phil Robertson, South East Asia director of Human Rights Watch, told Sky News the young woman’s “life is in danger”.
Thailand’s immigration minister, Surachte Hakparn, said the 18-year-old tried to enter Thailand but was stopped.
He said Thailand was working with the embassy of Saudi Arabia and Ms Alqunun would be sent back to the country by Monday morning.
“She ran away from her family to avoid marriage and she is concerned she may be in trouble returning to Saudi Arabia. We sent officials to take care of her now,” he said.
Ms Alqunun gave a different account, saying she was in transit to seek asylum in Australia, where she has a visa for travel, and was stopped by Saudi and Kuwaiti officials on arrival in Bangkok.
She said her passport was seized by the Saudi authorities, preventing her onward journey, and that she had been told she will be flown back to Kuwait on a flight on Monday.
Now in a hotel room in Suvarnabhumi Airport, she is tweeting videos that suggest she is being closely monitored by officials.
Human Rights Watch has backed up her account.
Mr Robertson told Sky News that Ms Alqunun had plans in place to escape to Australia and that Thailand was manufacturing “fake stories” about the teenager applying for a visa in the country.
After being denied passage to her planned destination she now hopes to claim asylum in Thailand, he said, and urged the United Nations refugee commission to help the teenager.
Saudi Arabia imposes extreme restrictions on women, including a guardianship system which allows men to exercise authority over them and make decisions on their behalf.
In a 2017 case similar to Ms Alqunun’s, Dina Ali Lasloom was stopped in the Philippines as she attempted to flee to Australia and was returned to Saudi Arabia, prompting international outcry.
Mr Robertson warned that this could be “happening all over again” with Ms Alqunun’s case.
“What we’ve seen, particularly with the military government in Thailand, is a willingness to send people back to harm’s way,” he said.
He added that Ms Alqunun “has the right to leave a country and go back to it as she likes”.
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