1,099 Thais register to return home, some Thais taken hostage may have been freed

Kanchana Patarachoke, director general of the Information Department and spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, told the press on Monday said the authorities were in the process of verifying the information that some of the 11 Thais taken hostage have been freed.

Kanchana said the Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur was coordinating with Malaysian authorities to negotiate the release of the 11 Thai hostages. The Thai workers were captured along with other nationals when Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on two Israeli cities near the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

She said some 100 people have been taken hostage, including nationals of France, Germany, Georgia, Ukraine and Thailand.

Kanchana added that the ministry was waiting to hear from the embassy in Malaysia about the progress in negotiations. She said the Foreign Ministry has also called on other Thai missions to find ways to negotiate with Palestine and secure the release of Thai hostages.

“We’re also checking information that some of them may have been released,” Kanchana said.

She added that Israeli troops have started evacuating Thai workers from dangerous zones. Also, she said, an emergency meeting on Sunday chaired by acting PM Phumtham Wechayachai resolved to have the Royal Thai Air Force put planes on standby to remove Thai workers once the situation permits.

All Thai workers in Israel have been informed of the evacuation procedure and 1,099 told the Thai embassy in Tel Aviv that they want to return home. However, 22 others have said they want to stay.

All in all, there are 30,000 Thais working in Israel and some 5,000 of them are in the Gaza Strip area, the spokeswoman added.

Kanchana said the Thai government is calling on nearby countries like Jordan to grant permission for Thai workers to travel there by land before being flown back.

She said the evacuations may use military, commercial or chartered flights based on the number of workers who want to return.

She added that the Israeli Foreign Ministry has kept all embassies informed of the situation, and does not recommend the evacuation of foreign nationals.

The Israeli government has told other countries that the situation in Israel is still safe and the airport is still open, though flights have dropped by 50%.

She said the Israeli government recommended foreign governments use commercial planes if they still want to evacuate their citizens. If they want to use other planes, they must first seek permission from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Kanchana added.