Relatives of freed Thai hostages fly to Israel for tear-filled reunions

Family members greet Surasak Lamnao, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Saethao and Pongsak Thaenna at Shamir Medical Center, will accompany former captives once they’re ready to return home

Relatives of released Thai hostages see their loved ones for the first time at Shamir Medical Center on February 4, 2025 (Shabtai Itzhak Idan/Shamir Medical Center)

Four Thai men freed from over 15 months of captivity in Gaza last week were reunited Tuesday with relatives who flew to Israel to see them as they recover before returning to Thailand.

With smiles, tears and clasped hands, the mother of Surasak Lamnao, brothers of  Watchara Sriaoun and Bannawat Saethao, and a nephew of Pongsak Thaenna were brought one by one into Shamir Medical Center in central Israel to see their newly freed loved ones.

Pongsak, 36, Watchara,33, Bannawat, 27, and Surasak, 32, were released from Gaza on Thursday after 482 days in captivity along with Sathian Suwannakham, 35. The release was part of a side agreement alongside the hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that has brought about the release of 13 Israeli captives so far.

According to Israel, Khammee Lamnao, Veerachot Sriaoun, Phuriphat Thaenna and Ratthanan Saethao arrived in the country Tuesday morning “to meet their loved ones and accompany them back home.”

The trip was organized by Israel’s Foreign Ministry with the help of the Prime Minister’s Office, the IDF and the Thai embassy in Israel, an Israeli government statement said.

Thailand’s Foreign Ministry posted online that it had also facilitated the trip.

Khammee Lamnao, the mother of freed hostage Surasak Lamnao, sees him for the first time at Shamir Medical Center, Feb. 4, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

It was not immediately clear why no relatives came to meet Suwannakham. However, Bangkok’s ambassador to Israel, Pannabha Chandraramya, said last week that the Thai government was trying to organize a trip for the relatives but that many did not have passports.

Hamas terrorists kidnapped 31 Thai nationals during their October 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel, making them the largest group of foreigners held captive. Many Thai agricultural workers had been living in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns overrun by Hamas.

Gazans crowd around a Red Cross convoy as Islamic Jihad and Hamas gunmen prepare to hand over Israeli and Thai hostages in Khan Younis on January 30, 2025 (Photo by Eyad Baba/AFP)

During an earlier ceasefire in November 2023, 23 Thai nationals were released in a deal negotiated between Thailand and Hamas, with assistance from Qatar and Iran.

According to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 46 Thais were killed during the conflict, including two Thai citizens who were killed on the day of the invasion and whose bodies are still held in Gaza.

Relatives of released Thai hostages see their loved ones for the first time at Shamir Medical Center on February 4, 2025 (Shabtai Itzhak Idan/Shamir Medical Center)

Another Thai citizen, Nattapong Pingsa, remains captive along with a Nepalese national and the body of a Tanzanian student.

Before the war, Israel employed tens of thousands of workers from Southeast Asia to do manual labor, many of them as farmhands for agricultural communities near the Gaza border.

Pannabha said there was no immediate information available about Nattapong nor the two Thai workers whose bodies were taken into Gaza.

Scenes of Israeli hostages being released and reuniting with their families as large crowds of friends and well-wishers celebrate have become a media fixture since Hamas began freeing hostages under the deal on January 19.

Phuriphat Thenna is reunited with his uncle, released hostage Thenna Pongsak at the Shamir Medical Center, Feb. 4, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

With no family in Israel, the freed workers were greeted Thursday only by hospital staff, support personnel, former employers and Thai diplomats upon their release, though Shamir Medical Center said it was doing everything it could to make them feel like family.

Thousands of miles away in Thailand, nervous relatives of the hostages watched TV news for signs of their condition.

“It’s him, it’s really him! He does not look thin at all, he looks the same weight but his hair is shorter than before. They probably cut his hair,” Wiwwaeo Sriaoun said Thursday as she caught a first glimpse of her son Watchara.

Wiwwaeo Sriaoun (L), the mother of Thai farm worker Watchara Sriaoun who was held hostage in Gaza, reacts as she receives an image of her son (R) being released, at her home in Udon Thani province, Thailand’s rural northeast on January 30, 2025. (Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP)

“I will hug him when I see him. I want to see if his health is OK, I am worried about his health,” she added between sobs.

Pannabha said the former hostages held video calls with their families after they arrived at the hospital, describing the conversations as incredibly emotional, with shouts of joy and tears. She said it was “one of the happiest days of her life” to see their release just a week before she ends her five-year term.

Ratthanan Saethao, left, greets his brother, released Thai hostage Bannawat Saethao at Shamir Medical Center, Feb. 4, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

Shamir Medical Center director Dr. Osnat Levzion-Korach, said last week that the five were in “fair” health, though most were held underground and were not exposed to sunlight for extended periods of time.

She said they did not appear to be malnourished and credited their young age with helping them survive captivity in fairly good physical shape.

Officials have recommended the former hostages recuperate for 10 days in Israel before flying back to Thailand.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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