Bangkok – Five Thai hostages who spent 15 months arrested by Hamas arrived in Bangkok on early Sunday after they were released last month.
The group, which consists of Sarusak Rumnao, 32, Watchara Sriaoun, 33, Sathian Suwannakham, 35, Pongsak Thaenna, 36, and Bannawat Saethao, 27, was launched as part of the prisoner of prisoners of Haras Israel With Hamas last month.
They were received at Suvarnabhumi airport by family members, as well as Thailand Foreign Minister Maris Sagniampongsa, and the Israeli ambassador to Thailand, Orna Sagiv, before continuing with his natives in the north and northeast of Thailand .
Forty -six Thai were killed in the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023 of Hamas, according to the Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of the highest death tolls among foreign citizens. Thirty -one others were taken back to the Gaza Strip as Haranes, 23 of which were released in November 2023 for a high early fire. Since then, two other Thai hostages have been confirmed dead.
Five of the remaining six hostages were released on January 31 as part of the second round of releases by the Palestinian militant group in what Thailand’s ambassador to Israel, Pannabha Chandraramya, said it was “one of the happiest days of my life”.
After their release, they spent a few days in a hospital outside Tel Aviv, where they underwent medical tests and recovered. Family members of four of the hostages were known in Israel on Wednesday, said Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
They were also visited by a Thai delegation that included the Foreign Minister.
The state of the remaining Thai hostages, Nattapong Pingssa, is not clear, and Hamas also holds the bodies of the two Thai hostages that were confirmed dead.
In addition, Hamas is also celebrating another Nepalí Agriculture student of Nepalia Bipin Joshi agriculture, as well as the body of a Tanzano student, Joshua Mollel, who was confirmed dead.
With a population of 9 million, Israel depends largely on foreign labor in sectors such as agriculture, construction and care. While the country has historically depended on Palestinian work, Israel began to recruit foreign workers after the Palestinian revolt that ended in 1993.
The Thai arrived in large quantities, attracted by higher wages than they could win at home, and remain the largest group of foreign agricultural workers in the country.
Almost 25,000 Thai workers worked in Israel before the attack of October 7, said Chandraramya.
“They worked tirelessly at La Granja, at the Kibbutz,” he told the journalists last week.
After the attack, many workers fled their work in Israel, which began offering higher wages and launched a recruitment campaign in countries, including India, to ensure the critical offer of foreign labor.
Since then, Thai have gone to Israel in numbers larger than before.
“Most Thai workers love working here,” said Chandraramya, adding that there were now 38,000 workers in the country. “Even more than that before.”
