Father of hostage Sudthisak Rinthalak: ‘I always worry about him, I pray for him’

The family of Sudthisak Rinthalak, one of the two remaining hostages whose bodies are held in the Gaza Strip, spoke Wednesday about the long wait for the return of their son and brother, during a brief interview recorded by Army Radio.

The interview came as the Prime Minister’s Office said that the remains handed back by Hamas on Tuesday were not those of Rinthalak or Israeli police officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, and that their families had been informed.

A short time later, Palestinian terror groups said they would hand over the body of a hostage later on Wednesday.

Rinthalak came from the town of Ratnawee in northern Thailand.

Speaking in Thai via a translator, Rinthalak’s father, Thong Ma, said he feels sad that he hasn’t received his son’s body.

“I feel I always worry about him, I pray for him,” said Thong Ma.

Rinthalak’s mother, Orn, is deaf, but was present as the interview was conducted.

His brother, Thepporn, told Army Radio that he pushed his brother to go work in Israel eight years earlier, when Rinthalak was 35 years old and had just gotten divorced.

“I feel guilty, but I wanted him to find himself there,” said Thepporn, and recalled that Sudthisak hoped to find a wife while in Israel.

“We were close, we were always together,” said the brother. “Wherever he went, I went with him.”

Every week, Rinthalak would send money to his family in Thailand that he earned by working in Israel.

On Monday, the Ynet outlet also published an interview with the Rinthalak family.

His mother, On said that during the last conversation with her son, the family asked that he come home for a visit.

“We hadn’t seen him in many years, ever since he went to Israel for work,” she said, according to an English-language report of the interview.

“He told us he wanted to save a bit more money and then come home for good. Then October 7 happened and he was murdered. I want my son home as soon as possible. I wait for him every day.”

She said that Israeli officials are in constant contact with the family to provide them with updates on the situation.

“We are very grateful to the State of Israel for all the efforts to bring our son home, and to the Thai government for their work on his return,” she said.

“He was the head of our family and the main breadwinner,” said Ratda Gongphat, a relative of Rinthalak.

She described him as “a polite and well-loved guy with many friends. Everyone here in the village misses him; they ask about him and want to know what’s happening. They’re sad with us.”

Gongphat noted that the family has several relatives who are currently working in Israel.

Gvili and Rinthalak were among the 251 hostages taken on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern communities, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Rinthalak had begun working at Kibbutz Be’eri three months earlier, after working in Israel’s north. He was killed and taken captive on October 7 by Hamas terrorists.

The last time his family spoke to Rinthalak was on October 5, said his father. Rinthalak was planning to go home for a visit for the traditional Thai New Year, which falls April 13-15, he said.

After the Hamas terrorist attack, they were sent a clip showing Rinthalak and five others being abducted.

“My heart hurt when I saw it,” said his father.

Five months later, they were told that intelligence showed that Rinthalak was killed on October 7 and his body abducted.

Rinthalak’s father said that when his son’s body is returned, they will bury him with the proper ceremony.

“He deserves that moment,” Thepporn, the brother, said.

“I want them to send whatever is left of him,” said Thepporn. “I feel bad because I have still not seen the body or anything. I want his body back. If not his body, then his ashes. I know he can’t be with us any longer; he is no longer alive.”

The bodies of 26 deceased hostages have been returned to Israel gradually, without any assurances or fixed timeline, over the course of the past seven weeks, as part of the US-brokered ceasefire that halted the war.

A total of 31 workers from Thailand were abducted on October 7, the largest group of foreigners to be held by terror groups in Gaza. Most of them were released during two previous ceasefires. The Thai Foreign Ministry has said in addition to the hostages, 46 Thais were killed during the and after the Hamas massacre in Israel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.