This morning, the third batch of 90 Thai laborers, comprising 88 men and 2 women, returned home from Israel on a commercial airplane.
On Saturday at 11 a.m. local time, the crew boarded Flight FZ1550 from Israel to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At 7 o’clock that night, they boarded aircraft FZ1832, which landed them in U-tapao International Airport in the Ban Chang district of Rayong province at 5:45 a.m. on Sunday.
U-tapao airport director Adm Sithichai Tangchai, governor of Rayong Traipop Wongtrairat, deputy director-general of the Department of Employment Sibmuenchai Pothisin, and other officials were there to welcome them.
Three chartered buses brought the workers and their provisions to the SC Park Hotel in Bangkok’s Wang Thonglang neighborhood, where their families were waiting.
Nathapong Nuanchan, 35, a Thai laborer, was transported out of the airport in a wheelchair after being injured in his right leg.
Mr. Nathapong, of Udon Thani province, claimed that he and about ten other Thai labourers toiled at a kibbutz close to the Gaza Strip. On the morning of September 7th, shots rang out and explosions were heard. He and his pals squatted down low. He thought some shrapnel struck him in the right leg afterward.
Israeli troops arrived shortly after and assisted the workers in leaving the area.
Mr. Nathapong stated that he has been employed in Israel for the past four years, with another year remaining on his contract. He declared that he had no interest in returning to Israel and instead planned to look for work in his native Udon Thani.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced that the death toll in Thailand as a result of fighting between Israel and a Palestinian Islamist organization had grown to 24. Mr Srettha reported that 16 Thai nationals had been kidnapped and another 16 had been injured, and that the government will continue working with various groups to remove the nationals as quickly as feasible.
According to the prime minister, the number of Thai nationals expressing a desire to return to Thailand increased to almost 7,000 as of yesterday.
Photo
The third group of 90 Thai workers from Israel arrive at U-tapao international airport in Ban Chang district, Rayong province, at 5.45am on Sunday. (Photo: Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
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