PUBLISHED : 26 Oct 2023 at 14:46
Two more Thai workers were reported killed in Israel, raising the Thai death toll in the Middle Eastern country from 31 on Wednesday to 33, Foreign Affairs Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-nukara said on Thursday.
According to the ministry, 18 Thais have been injured in the fighting and the number of those known to have been taken hostage by Hamas fighters has dropped from 19 to 18.
Mr Parnpree, citing the Israeli authorities, said the identities of 24 of those reported killed have been confirmed.
The foreign minister said the government has continued to bring back Thais who have registered for repatriation, while negotiation teams have been dispatched to seek the release of more Thai hostages, with support from some countries acting as coordinators.
According to the Foreign Ministry, a total of 547 Thais were scheduled to be flown home from Israel on Thursday. They comprised 268 on El Al flight LY085 to Suvarnabhumi airport at 10.20 am, 145 on a Royal Thai Air Force aircraft arriving at Don Mueang airport at 11.50 am, and 134 on Lion Air flight SL7005 landing at Don Mueang airport at 2.50 pm.
The bodies of another seven Thais who died in Israel were to be repatriated on El Al flight LY083, scheduled to arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport at 10.35am.
Pairoj Chotikasathien, the labour permanent secretary, said so far 4,531 Thais have been repatriated from Israel on 27 flights.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin also confirmed two more Thai casualties and ongoing negotiations for the release of those taken hostage by Hamas militants.
Addressing the House of Representatives on Thursday, Mr Srettha responded to inquiries about the government’s actions to help Thai workers after the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct 7.
He said that out of about 8,000 Thais who registered for repatriation, more than half have been brought home, with some 4,000 awaiting evacuating flights.
The prime minister also acknowledged challenges in the past four to five days, as Israeli employers offered higher salaries as an incentive for Thai workers to remain in the war-torn country. To cope with this problem, the government is working on measures to help returned workers while contacting some countries that are willing to import Thai workers, offering a competitive pay, he said.
He said the labour minister has made a proposal for the workers who are still in debt from having to pay for brokerage fees to get a bank loan of about 150,000 baht each.
The government will ask the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to extend loans to the workers with debt problems, with a repayment period of 30 years and an interest of 0.1% per year, he said.
“The government is doing its best to bring the workers home as soon as possible,” said the prime minister. “We don’t want them to think more about money than their own lives and the risks they have to take.
“What the government will have to do is to lift the standard of life of all Thai people to a higher level.”