Tearful homecoming for one Thai national held hostage by Hamas

STORY: Nearly 500 days after he was taken hostage by Hamas militants from southern Israel,

Watchara Sriaoun is reunited with his family, in their hometown of Kut Yang in northeastern Thailand.

“For more than 15 months, I could only pray to be reunited with my family, with my relatives, with everyone,” he told his church, alongside his parents and daughter.

Watchara and his brother went to work in an Israeli kibbutz in 2020, despite worries about risks of a regional conflict.

“I had to go. I wanted my family to have a better life, and I wanted my daughter to get an education.”

Working as farmers, they sent the equivalent of about $1,500 home every month.

But on October 7, 2023, Watchara was taken hostage by Hamas militants.

“They took my phone. They started shooting, so I raised my hands and said, ‘Thailand, Thailand.’ Then, they took my phone and then surrounded me.”

Watchara said while in captivity, some days there was enough to eat and drink; other days, barely anything.

He also said he was repeatedly told he would be released soon.

Except that never happened – until early February, following the latest ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

When he was finally freed, Watchara described seeing gardens and fields from a helicopter, after more than a year of confinement.

“It felt like I was reborn,” he said.

Before the conflict, about 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country.

During the October 7 attack, Hamas gunmen killed 41 Thais and kidnapped 30 Thai laborers.

The first group of Thai hostages was returned late November, 2023.

::Ratana Sriaoun

More than a year later, Watchara’s mother is overjoyed that he finally made it home.

“We have been waiting for this for a long time. It’s a miracle—something many thought would never happen.”

For Watchara, all he wants to do now is reconnect with his daughter, and support his aging parents.