I WAS REBORN’, THAI HOSTAGE AFTER BEING FREED FROM GAZA – Voices were raised in song in celebration of his release.
A small community gathered in a church in northeastern Thailand, their voices once raised in anxious prayer for a son who had been taken away in a war that was not his own, now erupted in triumphant song and applause as they celebrated his homecoming.
Watchara, 33, along with his younger brother, left their hometown in 2020 in search of work and income to send back home to support their family. Watchara, a man of few words, worked on a kibbutz, farming avocados and potatoes.
In the October 7, 2023 attack on the Israeli border, Hamas gunmen killed 41 Thais and kidnapped 30 Thai labourers. Thailand’s foreign ministry said a Thai national is still believed to be held captive by Hamas.
As Watchara headed from his sleeping area to the bathroom, he barely made it inside before encountering a group of men clad in body armour—enough for him to realise they were not Israeli soldiers.
Recalling his time in captivity, Watchara said he survived on cheese, pounded tomatoes, pounded cucumbers, and occasionally rice. Some days, there was enough to eat; other days, barely anything. Water, too, was unpredictable—abundant at times, scarce at others.
Despite the ongoing conflict, including airstrikes, Watchara said he didn’t hear the loud sounds or bombardment during his captivity.
Watchara said he was repeatedly told that he would be released – sometimes in a matter of days, other times in weeks – only to have those assurances prove hollow, leaving him with shattered hopes and a deepening sense of despair. However, three days before his release, he said, they told him there would be a ceasefire and he would be set free.
On the day of his release, Watchara, along with his two friends, was handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza’s Khan Younis. In total, five Thai hostages were released on Thursday (January 30), according to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “It felt like I was reborn,” Watchara told reporters.
