Bodies of Thai workers killed in rocket fire flown home from Israel

Bodies of Thai workers killed in rocket fire flown home from Israel

A coffin containing the body of one of the two Thai workers killed in a rocket attack in Israel is moved from a vehicle at Ben Gurion International Airport before being flown to Thailand on Tuesday.  The flight was scheduled to arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport after noon on Wednesday. (Foreign Ministry photo)
A coffin containing the body of one of the two Thai workers killed in a rocket attack in Israel is moved from a vehicle at Ben Gurion International Airport before being flown to Thailand on Tuesday. The flight was scheduled to arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport after noon on Wednesday. (Foreign Ministry photo)

The bodies of two Thai workers killed in a Palestinian rocket strike in Israel are being flown home on a flight scheduled to land at Suvarnabhumi airport at 12.30pm on Wednesday, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat.

The two workers -- Weerawat Karunborirak, from Phetchabun province, and Sikharin Sangamram, from Buri Ram -- were killed when rockets fired by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip landed at Moshav Ohad, an agricultural settlement, in the Eshkol region of southern Israel on May 18. Eight other Thai workers were injured.

Arrangements were made by the Royal Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv for the return of their bodies.

A ceremony to repatriate the bodies was held in front of the El Al cargo office at the Ben Gurion International Airport on May 25.

The ceremony was attended by Pannabha Chandraramya, the Thai ambassador to Israel, Ziv Bilaus, director of the Liason Department, other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel and staff of the Royal Thai embassy.

The bodies of the Thai workers were then loaded onto El Al Flight LY081 which departed from Ben Gurion International Airport at 10pm on Tuesday. The flight was scheduled to land at Suvarnabhumi International Airport at 12.30pm on Wednesday.

The bodies were to be transported to the workers' home provinces of Phetchabun and Buri Ram.  

There were also 263 passengers on the repatriation flight. They included Thai people who wished to return home and 18 Thai workers from Moshav Ohad who were affected by the rocket fire. Among them were two workers -- Jakkri Ratphonthee and Thanadol Khanthachai -- who were injured in the attack.

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