Touching the side of his neck gingerly, 30-year-old Withawat Kunwong reveals a jagged network of scars he received after being attacked at a poultry farm where he had been working in southern Israel.

The Thai government has called for the release of all remaining citizens being held in Gaza. So far at least 33 Thai nationals have been killed, according to figures shared by Thai authorities with CNN – with 18 Thai nationals still being held hostage as of October 26.

  • jetAEnglish
    376·
    1 year ago

    I’m glad this man was released, and I hope the rest are released soon.

    I do wonder about the sustainability of importing labor from half way around the world when there is a huge pool of jobless young people kilometers away. I realize its probably for security reasons, but it speaks to the economic barriers that are in the way to integration of the populations.

    Thai deaths in Hamas massacre spotlight poor agricultural workers from Asia who toil in Israel’s fields - CNN

    “During the 1990s, migrant workers (began to) replace Palestinians working in construction sites and agriculture fields as Palestinians workers became unwelcome and ‘unreliable’ due to regular lock downs and security issues,” Ladizhinskaya added.

    • steventhedev@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3810·
      1 year ago

      …Kunwong was left for dead, heavily bleeding from the wound in his throat. He was eventually found and cared for by other migrant workers. He managed to survive, he believes, because the knife had been blunt and broken.

      He wasn’t released by Hamas. He escaped the hell of October 7th by sheer luck.

      speaks to the economic barriers that are in the way to integration of the populations

      There were many Palestinians living in the West Bank and even from Gaza who would enter Israel to work in various industries (mostly agriculture and construction) prior to October 7th. Most legally with work visas, and some illegally. I doubt that that level of economic cooperation will ever return.

    • nonailsleft@lemm.eeEnglish
      168·
      1 year ago

      It’s weird how this article seems to hint at Thai workers being exploited. I read elsewhere they’re paid 5-6 times what they would be making at home… Not to say the system isn’t fucky but it doesn’t seem these workers are being duped into this

      • steventhedev@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        204·
        1 year ago

        The Israeli regulations around employing any foreign worker are very fair on paper (Google Translate), but there are regular stories highlighting various abuses of the system.

        The only rights they don’t get compared to an Israeli citizen seem to be around some retirement benefits and some social security stuff. In many ways, it’s more complicated than employing an Israeli as they are required to provide them with housing and some industries have required levels of overtime.

        The Thai minimum wage seems to be around 330 baht per day. That comes out to around 4.5 shekels per hour, compared to Israeli minimum wage of 30 shekels per hour.

        So 5-6 times more is about right, assuming they would be earning minimum wage in both places.