How did so many Thai farmers ended up taking hostage by Hamas?

Bangkok (AP) – Five Thai nationals held hostage by Hamas since its attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel were released on Thursday.

They were one of the 31 Thai people taken by the militant group, 23 of whom have already been released. Two others were confirmed dead and the status of a remaining person is not clear.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand, 46 Thai people were killed during the conflict, including the two died in captivity of Hamas.

They were among tens of thousands of Thai workers in Israel. Here is an overview of what they were doing there.

Why are there so many Thai people in Israel?

Israel once counted on Palestinian workers, but it has started to bring a large number of migrant workers After the Palestinian revolt of 1987-93 known as the first intifada.

Most came from Thailand, and Thai people remain the largest group of foreign agricultural workers in Israel today, considerably earning more than they can at home.

Thailand and Israel have implemented a bilateral agreement a decade ago to mitigate the way to workers in the agriculture sector.

Israel has been criticized for the conditions under which Thai agricultural workers work. In a 2015 report, Human Rights Watch said that they were often hosted in makeshift adaptations and inadequate and that “were paid considerably below the legal minimum wage, forced to work long hours up to the maximum legal, subject Under dangerous working conditions and have denied their right to change employers. »»

A surveillance group noted more recently that most were always paid below the legal minimum wage.

How many Thai people work in Israel?

There were around 30,000 Thai workers, mainly working on farms, in Israel before the October 7 attack by Hamas.

In the wake of the attack, some 7,000 Return homeMainly on government evacuation flights, but higher wages have continued to attract new arrivals. Thai ambassador to Israel Pannabha Chandraramya said on Thursday that there were more than 38,000 Thai workers in the country.

What happened after their departure?

Faced with a shortage of labor following the exodus after the attack on Hamas, the Ministry of Agriculture of Israel has announced incentives to try to attract foreign workers in evacuated areas.

Among other things, he proposed to extend the work visas and pay bonuses of around $ 500 per month.

The Ministry of Labor in Thailand granted 3,966 Thai workers to work in Israel in 2024, keeping Israel in the four main destinations for Thai abroad last year.

Thai migrant workers generally come from the poorest regions of the country, especially from the northeast, and even before the bonuses, the jobs in Israel have paid several times what they could do at home.

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Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul contributed to this story.