The mother of a Thai man held in Gaza has pleaded for her son to be freed, saying the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that will allow for the gradual release of hostages had given her greater hope.
Wiwwaeo Sriaoun’s son Watchara was one of dozens of Thai workers kidnapped from the farms on which they were working in southern Israel on 7 October 2023. Six are still being held in Gaza.
On Sunday three Israeli hostages were released at the start of the first phase of the long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, which is due to last for six weeks. A further 30 Israeli hostages are due to be released in the first phase, which does not cover foreign hostages.
“Please let my son come home safely,” Wiwwaeo said, adding that she was happy to see the release of three Israelis, and hoped that all the Thais would also be freed.
“Give them the chance to return home as well. I’m worried about all the Thai hostages, that they might not return home,” she said.
Wiwwaeo lives in rural Udon Thani, north-east Thailand, along with Watchara’s nine-year-old daughter, Irada. They had watched the reports of hostages being released together, she said, adding that Irada and everyone at her school had been happy to see hopeful news.
“Now she is waiting for her father to come back,” Wiwwaeo added.
Foreign hostages are due to be released in the second phase of the ceasefire deal, during which Israel is supposed to withdraw completely from Gaza. There are huge questions over whether and how the second phase will go ahead. Negotiations are due to begin in two weeks.
Watchara moved to work in Israel just over three years ago, aged 31, with his younger brother. They wanted to save up money, so that their parents no longer had to worry about family debts. The monthly salaries in Israel, between 40,000 and 60,000 baht (about £920-£1,380), were double what they could make back home on their family’s rubber plantation.
Israel is a popular destination for Thai migrant workers, and about 30,000 Thai nationals were working in Israel before the war, mostly propping up the country’s agricultural sector. The Israeli government has said they made up the largest single group of foreign dead and missing since the 7 October attacks.
According to the Thai government, 46 Thai nationals have been killed in Israel or Gaza, while six are still being held by Hamas. A further 23 Thais who had been taken hostage were released in 2023, after diplomatic efforts that involved neighbouring Malaysia, which has ties with Hamas, as well as Qatar, Israel, Egypt, Iran and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In a statement on Monday, Thailand’s ministry of foreign affairs said that it welcomed the ceasefire and hostage deal, and called for “the immediate release of all remaining hostages, including Thai nationals”.
Wiwwaeo prays every day for the safe return of her son. “I worry about how they are living over there. I want to hear how things are over there, what their conditions are. We don’t even know if they are alive,” she said.
But with Sunday’s release of hostages, she said: “There is more hope for me now.”
