Many emotions were felt on Sunday at Bangkok airport as the five Thai citizens who were held captive by Hamas for over a year returned home. They were released on January 30 as part of the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israeli attacks in Gaza.
Watchara Sriaoun, Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Sarusak Rumnao, and Bannawat Saethao were welcomed with hugs and tears by their families. The group was escorted by the Thai Foreign Minister, Maris Sangiampongsa.
"We have worked hard to be able to celebrate this reunion. Now, officials will oversee their reintegration into Thai society, focusing on their mental health," the minister stated. "We have never given up, and we still have hopes of bringing back the rest," he continued, referring to the Thais who are still held in Gaza.
In the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, at least thirty agricultural workers were among the around 200 foreigners who died in that massacre. A total of 31 citizens from this Southeast Asian country were kidnapped, of which 23 were released shortly after and two died last year. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday that they believe "at least one Thai citizen remains a prisoner" in Gaza.
"I am speechless to embrace my family again after so long," said Pongsak, one of the returned Thais, to the journalists at the airport. "I thank everyone who helped us move forward. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be here today. Finally, we have been able to return to our homeland."
The released Thais come from regions in northeastern Thailand, from very poor agricultural communities. Before the Gaza war, approximately 30,000 Thai workers were employed in Israel's agricultural sector, representing the largest group of migrant workers in the country. Thai authorities have reported that around 9,000 of their nationals have been repatriated since the war began.
For many years, Thai workers have been part of the landscape of Israeli farms. In the mid-1990s, when Israel restricted the number of Palestinians who could work in the country, there was a significant labor gap that was filled by workers from Southeast Asian countries, mainly from Thailand.
A couple of decades later, taking advantage of a signed agreement that regulated and paved the way for migrant workers, a wave of farmers from the poor provinces of northeastern Thailand, where rice cultivation is practically the only means of subsistence, moved to work in farms and fields, living in communities near the Gaza Strip, where 75% of the country's vegetables are grown.
The workers were attracted with monthly payments above 1,000 euros, when in their country the average monthly salary barely exceeds 200 euros. Entire Thai families went into debt so that the father, brother, or son could travel to the Middle East to seek work. In Israel, many of them had settled in the kibbutzim, the agricultural communes, when Hamas militants unexpectedly attacked in October 2023.
The Thai Ministry of Labor has ensured that each released Hamas hostage will receive a payment of 600,000 baht (equivalent to 17,000 euros) along with a monthly salary of around 900 euros until they reach 80 years of age. An economic aid so that, according to Thai officials, these workers do not have to return to Israel.