Title: 28 Thais Killed, 17 Abducted in Hamas Attacks; Urgent Repatriation Efforts Underway
The death toll from the recent Hamas attacks on Thai citizens in Israel has tragically risen to 28, with an additional 16 Thais wounded and 17 abducted. The Thai embassy in Israel has reported these devastating numbers, which highlight the urgent need for repatriation efforts to bring back the affected individuals to their homeland safely.
The Thai embassy has already received paperwork from 7,540 Thai nationals, out of which 7,446 expressed their desire to return home, while 94 intend to remain in Israel. To facilitate the repatriation process, Thailand’s Labour Minister, Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, led a delegation of top ministry officials to the SC Park Hotel in Bangkok, where they met with a group of Thai workers who were returning from Israel.
On Sunday morning, 88 men and 2 women who had been working in Israel boarded a commercial flight back to Thailand from the United States. Their anxious relatives eagerly awaited their arrival at the hotel in the Wang Thong Lang district, having traveled there by chartered buses from U-tapao International Airport in Rayong province.
In the coming days, further repatriation flights are scheduled. Specifically, between 5 and 6 a.m. on Monday, another batch of 137 Thai workers will return home via Air Force aircraft, landing at Don Mueang Airport. The Labour Minister has expressed concerns about securing more planes to accommodate the repatriation plan, and fortunately, Noke Air, Thai AirAsia, the military, and Thai Airways International have committed to organizing additional repatriation flights.
Interestingly, due to the urgency of the situation, many workers in Israel had to abandon their passports in their haste to seek safety in bunkers. Consequently, the repatriation process has been impacted, and so far, only 200 Thai workers have been able to return home. Nevertheless, the Department of Foreign Affairs is preparing to issue 8,000 emergency passports to expedite the process. According to Mr. Pipat, around 400 Thai citizens per day can expect to return home in the next three to four days.
To assist Thai workers in Israel, the Department of Foreign Affairs has dispatched ten officials to the region, while the Labour Ministry has sent five former Israeli residents to provide support on the ground.
Furthermore, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has expressed his deep concern about the escalating death toll from the Hamas attacks, which has now reached 20. The Thai Minister of Justice, Thawee Sodsong, attended a meeting with the returning Thai workers at the SC Park Hotel, assuring them that the government is committed to ensuring the safe return of all Thai workers and will do everything possible to assist those who have been abducted.
Meanwhile, in a separate advisory, the Thai embassy in Paris has cautioned Thai nationals residing in France to stay away from congested areas and popular tourist attractions following a knife attack at a public school in Arras, northern France. The French government has raised the national threat alert to its highest level and issued an emergency evacuation order for significant tourist sites such as the Louvre Museum and Palace of Versailles, suspecting potential explosive threats.
Thai nationals currently in France are advised to avoid crowded areas and tourist attractions, confirm the operating hours of important locations, and closely monitor the situation while following instructions from French authorities.
The attack in France, allegedly carried out by a former pupil under suspicion of Islamic radicalization, resulted in the tragic death of a teacher and multiple injuries.
