244 more Thais in Israel arrive home on Monday night
The fifth batch of Thai citizens being evacuated from Israel touched down at Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 9pm on Monday on El Al flight LY085, which left Tel Aviv earlier that morning.
244 passengers were on board the flight, most of them workers, along with 30 Thais studying in Israel. They were welcomed by relatives who had been impatiently awaiting their return at the airport in Samut Prakan province.
One of the passengers, Saksit Wijitthongchai, 28, a resident of Nakhon Ratchasima, said on Monday that he worked in a town just 30 kilometres from the conflict zone, where gunfire and explosions could be heard all day.
He added that he lived in a camp with some 60 workers and that after hearing that 7-8 people in nearby camps had been attacked and killed since the war started, they had all been sleeping with weapons in their hands for protection.
According to the authorities, 250 more Thais are expected to return home on board the LY085 flight on Tuesday at around 7pm, and another 280 Thais will arrive on Wednesday at 3.30am on flight TG 8951.
The government has launched a campaign to bring back Thais in Israel after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack against Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip last Saturday.
So far, some 7,500 Thai workers have registered to return, with the authorities expected to fly 5,700 Thais back from Israel before the end of this month on 32 flights to be provided by the Thai airforce, Nok Air, Thai AirAsia, and India’s SpiceJet.
498 Thai workers have been repatriated to date.
The number of Thais who have died as a result of the Hamas-Israel war has reached 29.
