The air force’s A340-500 aircraft leaves Thailand on Saturday night for Israel to bring another batch of stranded workers back home. (Photo supplied/Wassana Nanuam)
The air force’s A340-500 aircraft left Thailand again on Saturday night for Israel to bring another batch of stranded workers back home, said a source from the Royal Thai Air Forces (RTAF).
ACM Seksan Khantha, air force chief-of-staff, said the aircraft is capable of taking up to 135 passengers at a time.
The Airbus aircraft was bought in 2016 from Thai Airways International at 1.74 billion baht.
Among previous operations in which this aircraft has been deployed was the evacuation of people from Sudan in April and earthquake victims from Turkey in February.
In another development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said about 60 Thai nationals previously stuck in the red zone of the Israel-Hamas war, covering a 4-kilometre radius in Gaza, have now been evacuated ahead of their return to Thailand.
The evacuation was conducted by the Thai embassy in Tel Aviv in cooperation with Israeli local municipality authorities and the Israeli military on Friday night, said the source, citing information supplied by the Thai embassy and published by the MFA on Saturday.
After they were rescued, the group was taken to the InterContinental David Hotel in Tel Aviv, a new temporary shelter arranged by the Thai embassy specifically for Thais awaiting a repatriation flight back home.
The shelter was relocated from Dan Panorama Tel Aviv Hotel after the Israeli government declared the first hotel as a shelter for Israeli citizens.
Prior to Friday night’s evacuation, a Thai worker who went by the name of Thieo Nakhonphen on Facebook sought help from a local media outlet and a politician in Udon Thani, saying that more than 100 Thai workers were stuck in a neighbourhood about 2km from Gaza.
The man said these Thai workers were ready to be evacuated but they couldn’t contact any local authorities in Israel. That’s why he asked for help from the media and politician in Thailand.
In his latest update on Saturday, Thieo said he and more than 60 other Thai workers have been evacuated to a safe place and the group was now waiting for a repatriation flight home.
Earlier on Friday, the MFA also said two Thai workers who were hiding in an area near Gaza were rescued and taken to a hospital for treatment.
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