BANGKOK — Five Thai workers who were held hostage for over a year in Gaza have returned to Bangkok on Sunday.
Sarusak Rumnao, 32, Watchara Sriaoun, 33, Sathian Suwannakham, 35, Pongsak Thaenna, 36, and Bannawat Saethao, 27, were released on Jan. 30 as part of an exchange arrangement. Their arrival was met with emotional reunions with family members at Suvarnabhumi airport, where both Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sagniampongsa and Israeli Ambassador to Thailand Orna Sagiv were present to welcome them home.
“We are all very grateful and very happy that we get to return to our homeland. We all would really like to thank you. I don’t know what else to say,” Pongsak expressed during a news conference held at the airport.
Minister Maris highlighted that the Thai government “never gave up hope, and here is the result today. The tears of joy are our encouragement.” He also emphasized that efforts would continue to secure the release of the remaining Thai hostage.
The group quickly departed the news conference to return to their hometowns in Thailand’s northern and northeastern regions.
These five men represent the second batch of Thai hostages released since the outbreak of the conflict. In November 2023, during an earlier ceasefire, 23 Thai nationals were released in a deal negotiated between Thailand and Hamas, with support from Qatar and Iran.
Prior to their return, all five men underwent assessments at a hospital outside Tel Aviv. Four of them were accompanied by relatives earlier in the week, and the trip was sponsored by the Israeli government, as stated by the Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Hamas militants had kidnapped 31 Thai nationals during the assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, making them the largest group of foreigners held captive. Most of these Thai agricultural workers resided in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, which were among the first areas overrun by Hamas militants.
According to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a total of 46 Thais have lost their lives during this conflict, including two citizens killed during the initial attack, whose bodies were subsequently taken into Gaza.
Currently, there is no immediate information available regarding Nattapong Pingsa, the last Thai hostage still in Gaza, nor the two Thai workers whose remains were taken into Gaza.
Following the release of the five men, Minister Maris traveled to Israel to visit them and met with his Israeli counterparts to seek further support in securing the release of the remaining Thai hostage and retrieving the bodies of the deceased Thais.
Thai workers constitute the largest group of foreign agricultural laborers in Israel, a situation that developed following a bilateral agreement implemented a decade ago to facilitate the entry of Thai agricultural workers. Since then, many Palestinian workers have returned, and prior to the Hamas attack, foreign and Palestinian laborers made up approximately half of Israel’s workforce.
