How did so many Thai farmers end up held hostage by Hamas?

Five Thai nationals held hostage by Hamas since its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel were released Thursday.

They were among 31 Thais taken by the militant group, of whom 23 have already been released. Another two have been confirmed dead, and the status of one remaining person is not clear.

According to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 46 Thais have been killed during the conflict, including the two who died in Hamas captivity.

They were among tens of thousands of Thai workers in Israel. Here’s a look at what they were doing there.

Why are there so many Thais in Israel?

Israel once relied heavily on Palestinian workers, but it started bringing in large numbers of migrant workers after the 1987-93 Palestinian revolt known as the first Intifada.

Most came from Thailand, and Thais remain the largest group of foreign agricultural laborers in Israel today, earning considerably more than they can at home.

Thailand and Israel implemented a bilateral agreement a decade ago to ease the way for workers in the agriculture sector.

Israel has come under criticism for the conditions under which the Thai farm laborers work. In a 2015 report, Human Rights Watch said they often were housed in makeshift and inadequate accommodations and “were paid salaries significantly below the legal minimum wage, forced to work long hours in excess of the legal maximum, subjected to unsafe working conditions and denied their right to change employers.”

A watchdog group found more recently that most were still paid below the legal minimum wage.

How many Thais work in Israel?

There were about 30,000 Thai workers, primarily working on farms, in Israel prior to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

In the wake of the attack, some 7,000 returned home, primarily on government evacuation flights, but higher wages have continued to attract new arrivals. Thai ambassador to Israel Pannabha Chandraramya said Thursday that there are now more than 38,000 Thai workers in the country.

What happened after they left?

Faced with a labor shortage in the wake of the exodus after the Hamas attack, Israel’s Agriculture Ministry announced incentives to try and attract foreign workers back to evacuated areas.

Among other things, it offered to extend work visas and to pay bonuses of about $500 a month.

Thailand’s Labor Ministry granted 3,966 Thai workers permission to work in Israel in 2024, keeping Israel in the top four destinations for Thais working abroad last year.

Thai migrant workers generally come from poorer regions of the country, especially the northeast, and even before the bonuses the jobs in Israel paid many times what they could make at home.

___

Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul contributed to this story.