In Thailand, alert for hostage ends in happy tears
Vilas THANNA, the father of Pongsak Thanta, a Thai fruit farm held in Gaza, could hardly say when he digest the news about his son’s release after 15 months.
When we were happy, we cried, he said. When we were sad, we also cried. But these are happy tears.
Mr. Pongsak is one of the five hostages released on Thursday. Working on farms in dangerous areas of Israel, Thai farms suffered a heavy fee in attacks led by Hamas on October 7, 2023. And at least 31 people were arrested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand.
In November 2023, 23 of the hostages were released. Two others died in captivity, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that in May last year. .
The hostages were released on Thursday, Mr. Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Sethao and Surasak Lamnao. The fate of the rest of the Thai hostage, Nattapong Pinta, is not clear.
Mr. Vilas, Pongsak’s father, said he planned to go to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, to meet his plane carrying his son, although the cost could be banned.
The hostage of Thailand in the previous release round in November 2023 said they initially paid for flights from Bangkok back to their provinces. The labor officials said that they had disbursed money to the workers.
Economic difficulties have motivated thousands of Thai people, especially from the Isaan region in northeastern Thailand, to receive agricultural work in Israel, despite risks. Besides those who lost their lives in the murder attack on October 7, other Thai farmers were killed over the years in Rocket’s attacks on Israel, including October.
But the amount of money earned in Israel can change life and villages in Isaan scattered with modern houses built from these foreign income. Some workers have suffered attacks on October 7 since they returned to Israel to complete their contracts.
Wwwaeo Sriaoun, Watchara’s mother, one of the five Thai people released on Thursday, was gathered at home with a group of relatives when she heard about his return.
She also talked about the tears of joy. When her family cheered around her, Wwweeo’s voice emerged an excited scream.
I hope he can go home safely, she said.
But she was not sure if she could afford to go to Bangkok to see her son.
Currently, she said, she was happy to see the name of her son on the TV screen among the last people.
