Sudthisak Rinthalak, 43: Thai farmer was the ‘pillar of the family’

Sudthisak Rinthalak, 43, an agricultural worker from the Rattanawapi District of Nong Khai province in northeastern Thailand, was murdered in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7 and his body taken captive to Gaza.

Sudthisak was working on the kibbutz when Hamas attacked that Saturday morning. His family never heard from him after the onslaught, and eventually they were informed that he was believed to be taken captive to Gaza.

In May 2024, his family was informed by Israeli authorities that both he and fellow Thai captive Sonthaya Oakkharasr had been slain on October 7 and their bodies taken hostage to Gaza.

His body was returned to Israel by Hamas on December 3, 2025. He was flown back to Thailand for burial on December 9.

Sudthisak is survived by his parents, Thong Ma and Orn, and his older brother, Thepporn. He was previously divorced, and had no children.

His family said that he had been working in agriculture in Israel since August 2017.

His father, Thong Ma, told the BBC that his son had been working as a fruit picker on the northern border for several years before he was sent to work in Be’eri near the Gaza border three months before he was killed.

Thong Ma said Sudthisak was making significantly more money in Israel than he had been while working at a cotton factory in Thailand, and that he regularly sent home money to help his parents.

Sudthisak is the “missing pillar of the family,” he said. “With the loss of the family’s main breadwinner, I admit I’m struggling right now. I barely have money to pay the electricity bill.”

His father told a local news outlet that “every worker is fighting for a better life and fleeing poverty to work abroad. We do not want other families to experience the same tragedy as ours. From now on, our eldest son will be the only one to take care of us.”

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