Why were so many Thai farmers among the hostages held by Hamas?

Israel says it has retrieved the assemblage of a 35-year-old Thai hostage who was abducted into Gaza during the Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught that sparked the war.

Nattapong Pinta was among 31 Thais taken by the Hamas militant group. Thailand’s overseas ministry successful a connection Saturday confirmed that Pinta, the past Thai hostage successful Gaza, was confirmed dead. It said the bodies of 2 others person yet to beryllium retrieved.

The ministry has said 46 Thais person been killed during the war. Thais were the largest radical of foreigners held captive by Hamas. They were among tens of thousands of Thai workers successful Israel. Here’s a look astatine what they were doing.

Why are determination truthful galore Thais successful Israel?

Israel erstwhile relied heavy connected Palestinian workers, but it started bringing successful ample numbers of migrant workers aft the 1987-93 Palestinian revolt, known arsenic the archetypal Intifada.

Most came from Thailand, and Thais stay the largest radical of overseas cultivation laborers successful Israel today, earning considerably much than they tin astatine home.

Thailand and Israel implemented a bilateral statement a decennary agone to easiness the mode for workers successful the agriculture sector.

Israel has travel nether disapproval for the conditions nether which the Thai workplace laborers work. A Human Rights Watch study successful 2015 said they often were housed successful makeshift and inadequate accommodation and “were paid salaries importantly beneath the ineligible minimum wage, forced to enactment agelong hours successful excess of the ineligible maximum, subjected to unsafe moving conditions and denied their close to alteration employers.”

A watchdog radical recovered much precocious that astir were inactive paid beneath the ineligible minimum wage.

How galore Thai nationals enactment successful Israel?

There were astir 30,000 Thai workers, chiefly moving connected farms, successful Israel anterior to the onslaught by Hamas.

In the aftermath of the attack, immoderate 7,000 returned home, chiefly connected authorities evacuation flights, but higher wages than those disposable astatine location person continued to pull caller arrivals.

The Thai ambassador to Israel, Pannabha Chandraramya, precocious said determination are present much than 38,000 Thai workers successful the country.

What happened aft immoderate left?

Faced with a labour shortage successful the aftermath of the exodus, Israel’s Agriculture Ministry announced incentives to effort to pull overseas workers backmost to evacuated areas.

Among different things, it offered to widen enactment visas and to wage bonuses of astir $500 a month.

Thailand’s Labor Ministry granted 3,966 Thai workers support to enactment successful Israel successful 2024, keeping Israel successful the apical 4 destinations for Thais moving overseas past year.

Thai migrant workers mostly travel from poorer regions of the country, particularly the northeast, and adjacent earlier the bonuses, the jobs successful Israel paid galore times what they could marque astatine home.