Relatives of Thai workers kidnapped or killed by Hamas militants have spent the days since the attack on Israel patching together details from social media of what happened to their loved ones. Thailand is emerging as one of the nations most affected by a conflict thousands of kilometers away.
Eighteen Thais are feared dead in the violence, the Thai foreign ministry said on Tuesday, with 11 more believed held hostage by Hamas, nearly all from the poor northeastern region known as Isaan.
But the ministry said the numbers were unconfirmed in the bloody chaos of recent days with the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok saying a complete count is not immediately possible, given the ongoing military operations.
Israel has launched a counteroffensive to the attack, which killed hundreds of Israelis. Hamas has warned it will start executing its hostages if there are Israeli strikes without warning on Gaza, where hundreds have died, including civilians.
An estimated 30,000 Thais work in Israel, many at kibbutz farms near the border with Gaza, where they can earn upwards of $1,000 a month, several times higher than the wages in northeastern Thailand.
"I want to assure the Thai people that Israel is committed to doing everything in its power to protect the Thai workers in our country," Orna Sagiv, the ambassador of Israel to Thailand, said in a Facebook post on Monday. "Rest assured, they will receive the same treatment and protection as every person in Israel, whether Israeli or foreign national."
Devastated relatives of those feared to have been taken hostage have struggled to find information on the whereabouts of their family members, instead relying on videos shared on Facebook and TikTok by fellow Thai workers — or the militants who attacked them.
"I can't breathe, I can't sleep," said Piyanus Phujuttu, 27, whose family members believe they saw her cousin, Khomkrit Chombua, being taken into the Gaza Strip by militants on Saturday on a video shared over social media.
"Thai officials told me that they would talk to the Israeli government for me and the Israeli embassy in Thailand told me that they have to clear the area first before beginning the search — they've been following the situation, but they haven't confirmed my cousin's whereabouts, nor his fate," she told VOA.
Speaking to Thai television, Suda Thepgaew said she believes her husband was one of six Thais gunned down as dozens of militants attacked the workers' dormitory near Gaza.
"I just talked to him on Saturday and everything was fine, we were laughing and then suddenly there was gunfire, missile strikes and the connection was lost … his friend at the farm told me later, 'Ball has gone,'" she said, using her husband's nickname.
Separately, the visibly distraught mother of a banana farm worker from Kalasin, northern Thailand, spoke about her son, Somkuan Pansa-ard, who was shot dead at Nahal Oz kibbutz in Israel. Noopa Pansa-ard held a portrait of her son as she told reporters she had tried to persuade him to remain in Thailand. She said her son had been on a five-year contract in Israel, sending home nearly $2,000 each month to his family.
"I told him I didn't want the money, I just wanted him to be safe. I was just telling him how much I missed him," said Noopa Pansa-ard of her last call with her son.
Thailand is among the largest sources of migrant workers for Israel, with the Thai labor ministry saying the majority are employed as farm workers who send home monthly remittances. Around 7,000 Thais may also be working illegally in Israel, the ministry added, raising fears for their safety as they may not have been recorded as missing by employers. Only Taiwan and South Korea have more Thai workers, the ministry says.
The Thai government promises to evacuate all of its citizens.
Nearly 4,000 Thais have registered to leave as the situation becomes increasingly volatile, with the first flight due back to Thailand on Thursday, Kanchana Patarachok, a ministry spokesperson, told a press conference Tuesday.
But some Thais still in Israel say they want to stay, putting the relatively high wages of overseas work above their safety as they try to help families back home in the rice bowl northeast, where the daily minimum wage is around $8.
"I'm the eldest son so I've got to take care of my parents and my wife and two kids (aged 3 and 5)," Jakkapol Wipracha, 35, told VOA from Talmei Yosef, a settlement close to the Israel's southern border with Gaza. Each month working on a tomato farm he says he earns 5,300 shekels ($1,340).
"Over nine months, I've sent most of it home."
"I haven't been contacted by the Thai government yet but I'm weighing my options up right now. If I go back, I'd still need to go work overseas somewhere else. With all the debt I have, I just can't find work in Thailand that pays enough," he said.
