BANGKOK, March 12 — Four Thai workers who were wounded as a result of fighting near the Gaza Strip in Israel on Friday are out of danger and officials from the Thai Labour Office in Tel Aviv have provided assistance to them, according to Department of Employment Director General Prawit Kengpol.
Israel has since Friday killed dozens of Palestinians in air strikes on Gaza in a campaign to stop rockets and mortars from being fired against the southern part of its territory.
Four Thai agricultural labourers were wounded in an attack on Friday. One was reported by Israeli media as being badly wounded.
Media reports said that the four Thais worked on a farm in Ein Habesor City near the border with the Gaza Strip, about 100 kilometres from Tel Aviv.
Mr Prawit said that the seriously wounded Thai worker was identified as Mee Wongsuwan. He was hit by bomb fragments on his right cheekbone and his abdomen. However, he is now out of danger.
The three other workers were slightly injured and have returned to work as usual, he said.
Mr Prawit said that the recruitment agency signed a contract accepting responsibility for the cost of medical treatment and that the workers could also benefit from a fund set up to help Thai workers abroad.
As for the security measures, he said that it was not an issue to be worried as their workplaces were not in the war zone. He explained that they had travelled out of their work site to meet friends and were by chance accidentally wounded in the rocket attack.
There are some 20,000 Thai workers in Israel, mostly working in the agricultural sector, he said, adding that the Israeli government has agreed to accept more 5,000 Thai labourers.
