Prayers, tears in Isan church for Thai hostage in Gaza

KUT YANG, Udon Thani – The Sriaoun family gathered in their local church on Sunday, their voices rising and falling in tearful song as they prayed for the safe return of their oldest son, believed still held captive by Hamas.
 Watchara Sriaoun, 32, is one of six Thais believed still held captive in Gaza by Hamas, taken during the surprise attack on Israel on Oct 7 last year. About 1200 civilians were reported killed.
For a year now, the Sriaoun family, along with fellow church members, has prayed every week for his return. There has been scant news.
“We can only pray to God,” said 53-year-old 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, Israelis and foreign nationals, were abducted and taken to Gaza on Oct 7 by Hamas militants who burst across the border into Israel and killed a least 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities. The attack provoked an Israeli offensive which in the past 12 months has laid waste to much of the Palestinian territory of Gaza and killed almost 42,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Hamas gunmen killed 41 Thais and abducted 30 Thai labourers during the Oct 7 attack. Six Thais are still believed held captive by Hamas, according to the foreign ministry. Last week, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian requested support for the release of the remaining Thai hostages, according to a government statement.
Before the conflict erupted, some 30,000 Thai labourers worked in the agricultural sector, one of Israel’s largest migrant worker groups. (continues below)
Mr Watchara and his younger brother went to Israel in 2020, hoping to clear the family’s debt of around 300,000 baht 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 the family home in Thailand’s rural heartland.
His younger brother has since returned home at their mother’s request. With a part of the 3 million baht compensation they received in July from the Israeli government, the family paid off their debt and purchased some land that  Mr Watchara had promised to buy for his mother.
But Watchara’s absence is felt every day, especially by his 9-year-old daughter Irada, who also lost her mother in August. “I wish for this brutal war to end,” Ms Wiwwaro said, tears welling in her eyes. “Everyone has suffered enough, and I have suffered enough too, waiting for my son.”