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Mom Prays for Kidnapped Son’s Return a Year After Oct. 7 Attack

The Sriaoun family gathered on Sunday inside a church in northeastern Thailand to pray for the return of their oldest son, who has been held hostage since the October 7 attack in Israel.

Watchara Sriaoun, 32, is one of six Thais believed to be held captive by Hamas since the war began in October last year.

For the past year, the Sriaoun family, along with fellow church members, has prayed every week for his return, but there has been little news.

“We can only pray to God,” said Wiwwaro Sriaoun, Watchara’s mother. “Asking people doesn’t give us answers, and even the village chief or headman cannot confirm anything.”

At least 240 people, both Israelis and foreign nationals, were abducted to Gaza on October 7, 2023, by Hamas militants who crossed the border into Israel and killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.

This attack prompted an Israeli offensive that, over the past 12 months, has devastated the Palestinian territory of Gaza and resulted in nearly 42,000 deaths, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Hamas gunmen killed 41 Thais and abducted 30 Thai laborers during the October 7 attack. According to Thailand’s foreign ministry, six Thais are still believed to be held captive by Hamas.

Last week, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, seeking support for the release of the remaining Thai hostages, according to a government statement.

Before the conflict, around 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country.

Watchara and his younger brother went to Israel in 2020, hoping to clear the family’s 300,000 Baht ($8,971) debt and earn money for their father’s medical expenses.

Together, they sent 50,000 Baht home each month to help pay off the debt and renovate their home in Thailand’s rural heartland. Watchara’s younger brother has since returned at their mother’s request.

With part of the 3 million Baht compensation the family received in July from the Israeli government, they paid off their debt and purchased the land Watchara had promised his mother.