Israel, Hostages, Thailand & Jobs

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The horrific suffering of five Thai farmworkers held by Palestinian militants ended with their freedom on January 30, alongside three released Israelis, after intense diplomatic efforts frayed relations between Bangkok and Tel Aviv.

Surprisingly, throughout the 15-month hostage crisis, tens of thousands of Thais continued to flock to the coveted higher-paying agricultural and construction jobs in the Jewish state after the October 2023 attack.

The hostages' desperate families have been waiting in anguish in this Buddhist-majority Southeast Asian nation, praying at temples and frantically trying to get officials to help them.

"It is confirmed, my son did not die," a weeping Wiwwaeo Sriaoun, mother of one freed hostage, said.

"I will hug him when I see him. I want to see if his health is OK. I am worried about his health," she told Agence-France Presse while watching the news at their home in northeast Thailand's Isaan region.

Only one Thai hostage Pinta Nattapong, along with the bodies of two dead Thais, remained in Gaza. The dead were identified as Sudthisak Rinthalak and Sonthaya Oakkharasri.

Most of Thailand's hostages came from the dry, bleak, northeast Isaan region where unemployment is high, lives are rugged, and working in Israel is perceived to be quite lucrative.

Thailand deliberately chose not to confront Hamas and the other Palestinian militants in public with threats and denunciations, and instead discreetly dealt with the problem behind closed doors.

Occasional stories appeared in Thai media but news updates were mostly low-key, spotty, and brief.

"Many Thai people forgot about the hostages because they weren't famous, or celebrities, and no one knew them except their families," a Thai pharmacist in Isaan said in an interview, asking not to be named.

The five freed Thai farm workers were identified as Pongsak Thanna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Seathao Bannawat, and Rumnao Surasak.

"I am very super-duper happy, so excited," said Vilas Thanna, father of freed hostage Pongsak Thanna, at their home in Isaan, according to the New York Times.

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and Israeli Security Agency (ISA) escorted the Thais and Israelis out of the Gaza Strip and delivered them to the Red Cross in Israel for medical examinations and treatment.

"We are moved to tears by the return from captivity of Agam Berger, Arbel Yehoud, and Gadi Mozes, together with five Thai citizens," Israel's President Isaac Herzog said.

When the Thai hostages eventually arrive safely in Bangkok, they will receive financial assistance, counselling, and other support, Thai officials said.

Thailand said in June 2024 it would allow 5,000 Thais to fly to Israel to work for better-paying jobs in desert "safe areas" and "green areas" away from Gaza, and hopes to send 40,000 more.

"It can't be denied that Thailand's economy is not appealing enough to keep these workers here," Thailand's then-Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said in 2024.

Israel's Population, Immigration, and Border Authority (PIBA) fixed their yearly quota at 6,000 Thais, Thailand's Employment Department said.

Bangkok had lobbied Tel Aviv to increase their quota to allow more Thai men and women, aged 25-41, to travel to Israel for work under a Thailand-Israel Cooperation (TIC) agreement.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian rebels killed more than 1,200 people including 41 Thais. They also took 31 Thais hostage.

In an impressive diplomatic effort, 14 Thais were quickly released in November 2023 after a three-man delegation of Thai Muslim political and religious leaders did what other officials were unable or unwilling to do -- they flew to Iran and met the Hamas envoy in Tehran.

"An emphasis was made that Thailand was not an enemy to any party, and Thailand was not a part of the conflict," said a former Thai foreign minister, Kantathi Suphamongkhon.

"Thailand has good relations with the United States, Israel, Iran, as well as the Palestinians," Mr. Kamtathi said in an interview at the time.

Nine more Thais were soon also released, resulting in a total of 23 freed Thais in 2023.

One of the 23 workers, Manee Jirachat, told Germany's Deutsche Welle news: "They [Palestinian militants] shot two of my companions in the head, just because there was no room left for more hostages" in the truck which took them away during the October attack.

Nearly 5,000 Thais were quickly evacuated to Thailand in the aftermath of the assault, but about 20,000 chose to remain in Israel because they needed the money.

"Thai workers in the agricultural sector are known to take out loans worth about 100,000-150,000 baht ($3,000-$4,500) from the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to pay for travel and related expenses under the Thailand-Israel Cooperation on the Placement of Workers program," the Bangkok Post reported in 2023.

Their five-year employment contracts are relatively expensive to get because most use Thai brokers to arrange the jobs.

If the contract is broken, the debt still needs to be reimbursed to the broker.

Today, Thai workers still comprise the majority of foreign agricultural workers.

They began replacing Palestinian workers after the 1987-93 Palestinian uprising, known as the first Intifada, against Israel.

Human rights groups however alleged that many Thais and other foreign laborers are currently being paid less than Israel's minimum wage.

Meanwhile, two very public diplomatic clashes between Bangkok and Tel Aviv occurred after the Hamas attack.

In 2024, Israel's Ambassador to Thailand, Orna Sagiv, attached big pictures of hostages' faces onto 10 taxis, alongside a demand in Thai and English for their freedom.

Ms. Sagiv led the rolling procession from Israel's embassy through Bangkok's main streets.

"The activity was held by the Israeli embassy, and Thailand did not participate or support in organizing the activity," Thailand's miffed foreign ministry said at the time.

"We don't want any country to use Thailand as a platform to create conflict," then-Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara said.

Thailand was involved in delicate diplomatic efforts to gain their freedom, "so it does not want to create any problems that will cause any misunderstanding among parties involved in the conflict," Mr. Parnpree said.

"Thailand is friends with every country."

Earlier, shortly after the October attack, Israel's diplomat to the United Nations angered Thailand by not respecting the body of a dead Thai hostage.

"At a recent United Nations General Assembly meeting, a video clip was displayed of a victim, asserted to be Thai, inhumanely killed," Thailand's foreign ministry said in an October 2023 statement.

"Such horrific brutality has stirred a sense of outrage, not only among Thais but undoubtedly people throughout the world.

"The Ministry disapproves of the display of such footage, which does not afford the proper respect and due consideration for the deceased and his family," the foreign ministry said.

In 2012, Bangkok recognized Palestine as a nation with pre-1967 borders, and established diplomatic relations by endorsing the Palestinians' 1988 declaration of independence.

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Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based American foreign correspondent reporting from Asia since 1978 and winner of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondents' Award. Excerpts from his two new nonfiction books, "Rituals. Killers. Wars. & Sex. -- Tibet, India, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka & New York" and "Apocalyptic Tribes, Smugglers & Freaks" are available at asia-correspondent.tumblr.com

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