Two days after the killing of a Thai national by Palestinian mortar fire in the Gaza Strip, Thailand’s Labor Minister Uraiwan Thienthong is arriving in Israel for a visit. Thienthong is to call on all Thai workers in the Gaza Strip to find work in safer areas.
Thailand’s official regulations forbid its nationals to work in Gush Katif (the Jewish bloc in the Gaza Strip), stating it is a dangerous place.
On Tuesday Chitlada Tap-Asa, 19, was killed by mortar fire in the Ganei Tal community. Tap-Asa is the third Thai worker killed in Gaza since the start of the violence in September 2000. Two other Thai workers were injured in the attack, including Tap-Asa’s husband Lung Sukoi.
Thienthong will head a six-member delegation and is to meet Israel’s Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Ehud Olmert. Thienthong will then visit Thai workers during her three-day visit.
“The purpose of the visit is to strengthen the two countries’ already close labor ties,” said the spokesman of the Thai Embassy in Israel. There are an estimated 25,000 Thai workers in the country, making it one of the biggest markets for Thai labor in the world.
Four hundred Thai workers are employed in Gush Katif. This makes them the majority of the work force in the bloc. Tap-Asa’s death has shaken them, and some are now considering leaving the Gaza Strip.