Israel wants Thai workers back but “can”t wait forever”

After one-third of Thai workers left due to the ongoing conflict with Hamas, which culminated in the murder of October 7, the Jewish ambassador said she hopes to discover Thai staff return to the Middle Eastern nation’s agricultural industry.

Tel Aviv has been discussing the issue of recruiting immigrant workers with many countries in response to the serious need by the industry, she added.

Employees from Thailand have become a significant component of Israel’s market, according to Ambassador Orna Sagiv, who accounts for almost all of the foreigners working in the agricultural sector.

Nonetheless, since the turmoil blew up past year, an estimated one- next have left for safety reasons.

At the embassy, Ms. Sagiv stated at a press briefing yesterday that” Israeli companies want to have their Thai people again and are now eagerly awaiting their return.”

According to Thailand’s Ministry of Labour, many of the Thai staff wish to go back, and some have now returned.

The Thai authorities has nevertheless advised that the last 20 Thai employees hold off on this for their own health.

Ms. Sagiv vowed that Israel may take all necessary steps to protect them. It will collaborate with companies to help Thai staff who are still employed in Israel, whether they need assistance or wish to return.

” We do not force people to stay in dangerous spots”, she noted.

” I’m hoping to quickly view Thai employees coming back to Israel. The companies prefer to work with Thais, but they cannot procrastinate forever”, she said, adding they have already started to attract workers from other countries.

” We now have employees coming from Sri Lanka and Malawi, as well as from Latin American countries. We are even negotiating with Cambodia”, she said.

” I do not want to see that when the Thai staff decide to move back to Israel, people will already have filled their positions,” he said.

Thailand planned to trade 100, 000 Thai workers during the 2024 fiscal year, with 7, 700 going to Israel, according to the Thaipbs site, which quoted Pairoj Chotikasatien, continuous director at the Labour Ministry.