The Sriaoun relatives gathered in their neighborhood church on Sunday, their tones rising and falling in sad music as they pleaded for the release of their oldest son, who is believed to be still held hostage by Hamas.
 , Watchara Sriaoun, 32, is one of six Thais believed also held prisoner in Gaza by Hamas, taken during the shock assault on Israel on Oct 7 next year. About 1200 residents were reported killed.
For a month then, the Sriaoun home, along with other church members, has prayed every week for his return. There has n’t been much news.
” We can only beg to God”, said 53-year-old Wiwwaro Sriaoun, Watchara’s family. ” Asking people does n’t give us answers, and even the village chief or headman cannot confirm anything”.
At least 240 individuals, Israelis and foreign citizens, were abducted and taken to Gaza on Oct 7 by Hamas extremists who burst across the border into Israel and killed a least 1, 200 people, according to Israeli government. According to Israeli health authorities, the strike sparked an Israeli offensive that has destroyed a large portion of the Palestinian territory of Gaza in the past 12 months and claimed the lives of about 42, 000 people.
During the invasion on October 7th, Hamas militants abducted 30 Thai laborers and killed 41 of them. The Thai government also holds six Thai nationals as captives, according to the ministry of foreign affairs. In a state statement, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the prime minister, spoke with Egyptian President Masoud Pezeshkian last week and asked for assistance for the launch of the remaining Thai captives.
Before the fight erupted, some 30, 000 Thai workers worked in the agricultural industry, one of Israel’s largest migrant worker parties. ( continues below )
Wiwwaro Sriaoun helps her daughter, 9-year-old Irada Sriaoun, with her studies at their apartment in Kut Yang, Udon Thani. The woman’s father Watchara Sriaoun is believed to still be a prisoner, held by Hamas in Gaza. ( Photo: Reuters )
Mr Watchara and his younger brother went to Israel in 2020, hoping to clean the family’s bill of around 300, 000 ringgit and generate income for their family’s medical bills. Together, they sent 50, 000 bass house each month to help pay off the debt and rebuild the household home in Thailand’s remote homeland.
His younger brother has since returned house at their mother’s demand. The home paid off their debts and purchased some area that Mr. Watchara had promised to get for his mother using a portion of the 3 million baht settlement they received from the Jewish state in July.
But Watchara’s presence is felt every day, mainly by his 9-year-old child Irada, who even lost her mother in August. ” I wish for this terrible war to end”, Ms Wiwwaro said, tears welling in her eyes. ” Everyone has suffered enough, and I have suffered enough too, waiting for my son” . ,