The first group of 41 Thai workers returned home on Thursday morning from Israel, to the waiting arms of their families.
Fifteen of the workers were brought back with help from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the rest had made their own arrangements. All arrived on board El Al flight LY083 at Suvarnabhumi airport at 11.22am.
They were welcomed by Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, Labour Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang and Deputy Public Health Minister Santi Promphat.
Katchakorn Pudtason was one of two workers who needed special assistance on the plane and a wheelchair once he arrived.
Speaking with reporters in the arrivals hall, he recalled his escape from a Hamas attack on the farm where he worked. He hid in a bunker at his employer’s home before rushing back to the farm in the back of a car.
“That morning fighting broke out, it was so violent,” he said.
Bullets whizzed by their vehicle, one of them injuring him.
“I was the first to get shot — in the knee. … I thought I was hit with stones,” he said.
Four of his fellow workers had been injured, one shot in the cheek, he said.
“The gunshots were constant, it’s nothing like in the movies. The shots were showering down on us, like they wanted us ripped up.”
The workers were taken in a bus from the airport to the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute for health screening. There, they were to be paid compensation by the Ministry of Labour before departing for their home provinces.
A total of 16 Thai workers are now known to have been taken hostage by Hamas fighters since the conflict began, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.
As well, one more Thai has been reported killed, bringing the death toll to 21, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said.
A total of 5,174 of the 30,000 Thai workers in Israel have registered for voluntary repatriation, according to Kanchana Patarachoke, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) has transport aircraft on standby to bring more Thais back home, pending permission from other countries to fly through their airspace. It hopes to begin evacuating 220 Thai nationals on Sunday, with more flights planned on Oct 24.
Authorities have also booked 80 seats for Thais on commercial flights for departure next Wednesday, said Ms Kanchana.
Three local airlines — Thai Airways, Thai AirAsia and Nok Air — have also expressed a willingness to help with repatriation, according to Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit.
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Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, joins other officials to welcome the first Thai workers repatriated from Israel on Thursday at Suvarnabhumi Airport (Photo: @MFAThai Twitter)
