Prayers for Thai hostage in Gaza echo from a rural church

KUT YANG, Thailand — Inside a church in north-eastern Thailand the Sriaoun family gathered on Oct 6, their voices rising and falling in song, tears rolling down the eyes of some, as they prayed for the safe return of their oldest son.

Watchara Sriaoun, 32, is one of six Thais believed to be held captive by Hamas since the war began last October.

For a year now, the Sriaoun family, along with their fellow church members, has prayed every week for his return. But there has been scant news.

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

At least 240 people — Israelis and foreign nationals — were abducted to Gaza on Oct 7, 2023, by Hamas militants who burst across the border into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.

The attack provoked an Israeli offencive which in the past 12 months has laid waste to the Palestinian territory of Gaza and killed almost 42,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Hamas gunmen killed 41 Thais and abducted 30 Thai labourers during the Oct 7 attack. Six Thais are still believed to be held captive by Hamas, according to Thailand's foreign ministry.

Last week, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian requested support for the release of the remaining Thai hostages, according to a government statement.

Before the conflict erupted, some 30,000 Thai labourers worked in the agriculture sector, making them one of Israel's largest migrant worker groups.

Watchara and his younger brother went to Israel in 2020, hoping to clear the family's debt of some 300,000 baht (S$11,700) and earn money for their father's medical expenses.

Together, they sent 50,000 baht home each month to help pay off the debt and renovate the family home in Thailand's rural heartland.

His younger brother has since returned home at their mother's request.

With a part of the 3 million baht compensation that they received in July from the Israeli government, the family paid off their debt and purchased some land that Watchara had promised to buy for his mother.

But Watchara's absence is felt every day, especially by his nine-year-old daughter Irada, who also lost her mother in August.

"I wish for this brutal war to end," Wiwwaro said, tears welling in her eyes.

"Everyone has suffered enough, and I have suffered enough too, waiting for my son." 

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