Why were so many Thai farmers among the hostages held by Hamas?

BANGKOK AP Israel says it has retrieved the body of a -year-old Thai hostage who was abducted into Gaza during the Oct attack that sparked the war Nattapong Pinta was among Thais taken by the Hamas militant group Thailand s foreign ministry in a comment Saturday approved that Pinta the last Thai hostage in Gaza was proven dead It noted the bodies of two others have yet to be retrieved The ministry has revealed Thais have been killed during the war Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas They were among tens of thousands of Thai workers in Israel Here s a look at what they were doing Why are there so multiple Thais in Israel Israel once relied heavily on Palestinian workers but it started bringing in large numbers of migrant workers after the - Palestinian revolt known as the first Intifada Bulk came from Thailand and Thais remain the largest group of foreign agricultural laborers in Israel the present day earning considerably more than they can at home Thailand and Israel implemented a bilateral agreement a decade ago to ease the way for workers in the agriculture sector Israel has come under criticism for the conditions under which the Thai farm laborers work A Human Rights Watch review in revealed they often were housed in makeshift and inadequate accommodation and were paid salaries significantly below the legal minimum wage forced to work long hours in excess of the legal maximum subjected to unsafe working conditions and denied their right to change employers A watchdog group identified more lately that most of were still paid below the legal minimum wage How countless Thai nationals work in Israel There were about Thai workers primarily working on farms in Israel prior to the attack by Hamas In the wake of the attack specific returned home primarily on cabinet evacuation flights but higher wages than those available at home have continued to attract new arrivals The Thai ambassador to Israel Pannabha Chandraramya in recent months mentioned there are now more than Thai workers in the country What happened after specific left Faced with a labor shortage in the wake of the exodus Israel s Agriculture Ministry released incentives to try to attract foreign workers back to evacuated areas Among other things it offered to extend work visas and to pay bonuses of about a month Thailand s Labor Ministry granted Thai workers permission to work in Israel in keeping Israel in the top four destinations for Thais working abroad last year Thai migrant workers generally come from poorer regions of the country especially the northeast and even before the bonuses the jobs in Israel paid several times what they could make at home Source