Five Thai agricultural workers who were abducted during the Hamas on October 7th were released on Israel after being held in Gaza for almost 500 days in Gaza.
They were handed over to the red cross During chaotic scenes along with two IsraelisShortly after he was released by the first Israeli hostage.
Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watkara Sirioun, Bannawat Saethao and Surazak Lamnao worked in southern Israel when they were abducted during the attack in October 2023.
The Thai Prime Minister said she was delighted to hear the news of their release, and her government worked with Israel “so that she could soon reunite with her families.” One Thai hostage is left with no responsibility.
“The Thai government, including everyone here in Thailand, has been waiting for this moment for a long time,” Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced on social media.
“I adhere to my hopes that the remaining Thai citizen will be released and quickly returned to us.”
For families of the hostages released, it was a day that had been waiting for a long time.
Wilas Thaenna cried after receiving a call on Thursday to say that his son Pongsak had been released.
“I never thought this day would come, everything was too quiet for a while,” the 65-year-old told the BBC.
He found that he could barely sleep the night before, because he was so excited about the prospect of his son being released.
“I don’t know how to explain how I went through everything that happened,” he continued.
“My son was trapped, I lost my wife, I had to stay strong.
“For the first five or six months, I lost so much pounds. It was disturbing, I didn’t have the strength to do anything or go anywhere. I kept taking care of.
“When I see him, I’ll hug him and tell him to get home.”
Wiwwaew Sirioun also cried because it was confirmed that her son Wathara had been released.
“The first thing I want to do is hug my son and tell him I miss a lot,” she said. “His daughter, Nudee, was also happy. She begged herself every day that her father returned.”
She said that all the Watchara relatives came to her home in the Province of Udon Thani to closely follow the news.
“I had hopes, but I’ve lost hopes several times,” she said, adding that she had received a call on Wednesday night, but she wasn’t sure if her son would still be alive. And she was unable to sleep, revealing the AFP news agency that they had gone tires on their farm in the early morning hours.
Sirinna Suwannakham, a younger sister of the liberated hostage Sathian, said her family managed to keep her hope only because they had no proof that he was killed.
“If he had died, we would have had a ceremony maintenance body,” she said. “But there were none. So, we never lost hope. We always believed that my brother was still alive. We never gave up. We always waited for him to get home.”
The published hostages will now be taken to the hospital in Israel after being greeted by Thai government officials.
Thirty -one Thai workers took hostages in attacks in October 2023, the Thai government announced earlier. Another 39 was killed that day.
Most were released in November 2023, leaving only eight in Gaza, according to officials. The two are believed to have died since then, while the fate of the last hostage – Nattapong Pint – is not known.
Almost all foreign workers abducted during the attack were Thais. Israel employs them about 30,000 as agricultural work, making them one of the largest migrant groups in the country.
The announcement is part of a separate agreement between Hamas and the Thai government -this is not part of Israel -Hamas’s agreement on the termination of fire on January 19th.
