The family of the 32-year-old migrant worker held a vigil in a church in Udon Thani province, demanding his release. Together with five of his compatriots and at least one Nepali, he is the forgotten face of this tragedy. His tearful mother Wiwwaro calls for an end to this "brutal war" in which "Everyone has suffered enough". Last week, Thai Prime Minister Shinawatra met with the Iranian president asking him to mediate his release.

Bangkok (AsiaNews) – In a church in northeastern Thailand, the Sriaoun family gathered over the weekend to pray and make another appeal for the release of their relative, who has been in the hands of Hamas in Gaza for a year.

Watchara Sriaoun is one of six Thai migrant workers – out of a total of 41 initially seized – still held since October last year by the militants who control Gaza.

For 12 long months, relatives, along with friends and members of the local Protestant Christian community, have held vigils praying for his return, so far in vain. News about his fate remains fragmentary.

The 32-year-old migrant worker, who hails from Kut Yang, a village in Udon Thani province, in the northeast of the country, was captured on 7 October, the day of the attack, at Kibbutz Nir Oz.

“We can only pray to God,” said Watchara's mother, Wiwwaro Sriaoun. “Asking people doesn't give us answers, and even the village chief or headman cannot confirm anything” about the man’s fate.

Yesterday, one year after the Hamas attack in Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, the various events for victims and hostages included services and prayer vigils held in the countries of origin of foreign workers still in the hands of the extremist group.

The migrants came mostly from Asian nations, like Thailand and Nepal. Some have been captive of the kidnappers for a year, described on several occasions as the "forgotten face" of this tragedy since little has been said about them and their fate remains "uncertain" to this day.

Some are Thai nationals, and for them, the Thai government has been trying to get their release; the latest attempt was last week, when Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, asking for Tehran's support in the release of Thai hostages.

Before that, Thai authorities had knocked on the doors of other intermediaries, including Qatar as well as Iran when Pezeshkian’s predecessor, the late Ebrahim Raisi, was president.

During Hamas’s Al-Aqsa deluge operation on 7 October, at least 41 Thai workers were killed, while about 30 were kidnapped.

At the time, the repatriation of the victims' bodies had plunged the Southeast Asian country into deep grief; at the same time, it highlighted Israel's reliance on foreign workers, particularly in agriculture, especially from Asia.

Before the attack, some 30,000 Thais were working in Israel. In the weeks that followed, the Thai government repatriated at least 12,000 of its citizens, who, fearing another attack, preferred to give up their jobs and return home.

After a while, the first phase of deep shock over, the trend was reversed with about 600 Thais returning to Israel at the beginning of the year in spite of the ongoing war.

In recent months, Thai Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn visited Israel to urge Israeli authorities to raise the quota for Thai workers, most of whom come from areas like Buriram province. In Israel, they work as labourers and gardeners and can earn up to US$ 1,800 a month.

Watchara and his younger brother travelled to Israel in 2020, hoping to pay off the family's debt of about 300,000 baht (just under US$ 9,000) and earn money for their father's medical expenses.

Together, they sent home some 50,000 baht a month to contribute to the family's needs and renovate their house in the rural heart of Thailand. After some time, the youngest of the two returned home at his mother’s request.

With a portion of the three million baht compensation received in July from the Israeli government, the family paid off the debt and bought land that Watchara himself had promised to buy for his mother.

Today his absence, and the lack of any news, are felt more and more every day, above all for the man's daughter, nine-year-old Irada, who also lost her mother last August.

“I wish for this brutal war to end," Wiwwaro told Reuters, tears welling in her eyes. “Everyone has suffered enough, and I have suffered enough too, waiting for my son.”

• thailand
• israel
• gaza
• palestine
• hamas
• 7 october
• attack
• migrant workers
• hostages
• diplomacy