Thailand: Farmers caught between poverty, Israel-Hamas war

Bowon Nonthasi is already feeling a little queasy as he packs his travel bags.  

He is preparing to leave his home village in Thailand and return to Israel in the coming days.

"The poverty here [in Thailand] scares me more than the [Israel-Hamas] war," he says as his relatives behind him nod in agreement.

Bowon was working in the fields of a kibbutz, an agricultural community in Israel, near the Gaza Strip when Hamas militants launched a series of major terror attacks in southern Israel on October 7.

Hamas, an Islamist militant group that rules Gaza, is designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union, Germany, the United States and other governments.

Bowon escaped the attack as he had to get up early that day and leave to work a part-time job.

During the attack on the Holit kibbutz, Hamas militants destroyed the Thai guest workers' residences and killed at least 12 people there. 

Seasonal workers urgently needed

"My boss in Israel really wants me back in the field," says the 34-year-old.

Bowon adds that he doesn't have a choice anyway, pointing to the difficulties in making ends meet given the meager wages for farm workers in northeastern Thailand.

"I have two daughters, aged 5 and 8. We're also building our own house, which isn't finished yet."

Bowon is still waiting for the Thai government's promised financial aid, amounting to about €1,300 ($1,415). He said he only received a meager compensation of €390 after his return home.

The farm worker says he earns over three times that amount working at fruit plantations in southern Israel.

"I earn 5,300 Israeli shekels (€1,300, $1,415) a month there," he said.

Israel's agriculture in crisis

Bowon is not the only one in Thailand contemplating a return to Israel.

Since the beginning of the year, around 2,500 Thai workers have already traveled to Israel, Kav LaOved, an NGO, tells DW.

It wasn't clear how many of them were returnees and how many new arrivals, it said. What is clear, however, is that Israel urgently needs harvest workers.

The country's agricultural sector has been facing an acute labor shortage, causing vegetables and fruits to increasingly rot in the fields, as there is hardly anyone to pick them. The problem is particularly critical in the areas surrounding the Gaza Strip, which are also known as "Israel's vegetable patch," as 75% of the vegetables grown in the country come from there.

According to a MIGAL Galilee Research Institute survey, 89% of Israeli farmers have suffered losses, and almost all expect further losses in the coming months. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed are affected by worker shortages. The Israeli government's decision to withdraw work permits of Palestinian farm workers has compounded the problem.

After the war between Israel and Hamas erupted, nearly 9,700 Thai guest workers returned to Thailand. Israel's ambassador to Thailand, Orna Sagiv, has personally intervened to try to persuade them to return. She promised the Thai Parliament's labor committee to "do everything in her power to ensure the safety of the workers in Israel."

Psychological after-effects

Against this backdrop, Thai agricultural workers face a dilemma: Do they expose themselves to the dangers of war or stay at home and live in poverty?

Owat Suriyasri, a 40-year-old farm worker, was one of the Thai nationals Hamas took hostage. He remains undecided about returning to Israel. Even though he's feeling better after returning to his family in Sisaket, a province in Thailand's Isaan region, the trauma still runs deep.

"I want to go back and help. My boss in Israel is really great, but my psyche isn't ready yet," he says, sitting in front of his modest bungalow.

The two-month ordeal has also left physical scars. The scar on his stomach dates back to October 7, when Hamas fighters forced him and his colleague Pattanayut Tonsokree onto a motorcycle at gunpoint. On the way to Gaza, the vehicle crashed. His kidnapper's firearm, which was pressed against his back, jammed and caused a wound in his stomach. Pattanayut broke his rib during the incident.

Humiliation during captivity

Owat was taken into one of the Hamas-built underground tunnels, bleeding and wearing only a pair of trousers. He was held in a cramped, damp cell with hardly any space.

On some days, he was only given one or two flatbreads, sometimes a little jam, to eat. On others, he had to make do with burnt pieces of bread or the leftovers from the guards.

They had to carry water cans through the narrow labyrinth of tunnels. The Thais also had to clean the toilets, Owat says.

"It was a kind of plastic bag on the floor with a step, but no water. Just layers of feces. When the thing was full, they ordered us to carry it away," Owat adds. "It was so disgusting."

Afterward, the hostages were only given a little water to clean themselves. A layer of muck formed on his skin. "When I ran my hand over it, flakes came off."

Free, unemployed and indebted

On November 28, his seven-week ordeal finally came to an end. During the temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, he was released from captivity and allowed to return to Thailand.

Owat is now free but has found it tough to find a job in Thailand. He is also facing a growing mountain of debt.

"It's miserable," he says. "I can no longer pay the installments on my car, and I still owe my brother money too."

When he was held hostage, his wife also had to borrow money to make ends meet. After his release, the Israeli government gave him aid worth €2,300 ($2,505) in the form of a "cash card."

As a victim of war, however, he would also be entitled to financial assistance to the tune of €1,700 for at least six months. But he has yet to start receiving payments.

Israel is working to overcome these new challenges for the welfare system, said Assia Ladizhinskaya from the aid organization Kav LaOved, which campaigns for the rights of migrant workers.

"A number of innocent people need solutions, compensation and emotional support," Ladizhinskaya tells DW. "Decisions are being made every day, but unfortunately, they haven't reached everyone yet."

Without financial support, Owat Suryasri says he probably has no choice but to return to Israel. He believes, at 40, he is already too old for South Korea, another popular destination for Thai guest workers.

His former fellow hostage Pattanayut is also likely to return to the fields near Gaza soon to earn money. He says he has just applied for a new passport.

This article was originally written in German.