Some of the last Thai workers taken hostage by the Palestinian militant group Hamas have been reunited with their families after touching down in Bangkok yesterday.
Sarusak Rumnao, 31, Sathian Suwannakham, 35, Pongsak Thaenna, 36, Watchara Sriaoun, 33, and Bannawat Saethao, 27, were abducted during Hamas’ deadly incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023. They were then freed on January 30 as part of an exchange arrangement between Hamas and the Israeli government, and have spent the past 10 days recuperating and receiving medical care in Israel.
Upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday, the five men were greeted by members of their families, who wept tears of joy after 482 days of terrifying uncertainty.
Speaking to the assembled press scrum, Pongsak expressed his thanks to the Thai authorities for facilitating his return. “We are all deeply touched to come back to our birthplace once again,” he said, according to The Guardian. “I don’t know what else to say, we are all truly thankful.”
Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa and Israeli Ambassador to Thailand Orna Sagiv were also at the airport to meet the survivors. Addressing the press, Maris said that the Thai government offered its thanks to “all the friendly countries that have helped make today happen”
“Today is a very emotional day. It is the most pleasing news to see the Thai nationals return to their homeland,” he said. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, all the agencies together, and the prime minister, we never gave up hope. The tears of joy are our encouragement.”
The five men were among the 31 Thai agricultural workers who were captured by Hamas from four farms close to the Gaza border during its incursion on October 7, 2023. Earlier, 23 hostages were released in November 2023 and two, Sudthisak Rinthalak and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, were confirmed dead in May of last year.
Their return appears to leave one remaining Thai hostage in Hamas’ captivity: 35-year-old Pinta Nattapong. Maris said that the government would continue working to secure his release.
The return of the hostages came amid continuing regional criticisms of U.S. President Donald Trump’s announced plan for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip and turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East.” On Friday, Indonesia joined its neighbor Malaysia in condemning Trump’s plan, which many fear would involve the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.
“Indonesia firmly rejects any effort to specifically relocate Palestinian residents or any activity to alter the demographic composition of the Palestinian territory,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, according to Tempo.
Last week, at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump proposed the idea of the U.S. taking over Gaza and creating an “an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
Trump subsequently affirmed his intention to follow through with the plan. “I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza,” he said in a press conference aboard Air Force One, adding that “we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it.”
