M. Krishnamoorthy
A media coach, adjunct professor and an author
Thai hostages revealed beatings began shortly after their capture on 7th October 2023. The Hamas captors punched and kicked them.
What many hostages endured — and some continue to endure in the Hamas camps. Few of the freed hostages have spoken at length about their ordeal, though others who have since been released also described beatings and death threats.
"We shouted 'Thailand, Thailand'," said Anucha Angkaew, a Thai farm worker whom Hamas abducted. They were captured while working in Israel. The intensity of the blows was reduced. An hour after the abduction, all five Thais were put into another truck that drove for about 30 minutes to a small building that led into a tunnel.
From the opening of the tunnel, they were beaten again and photographed, Anucha said, before walking through a dark, roughly meter-wide passage to a small room, Reuters reported. This news was carried by the New Straits Times.
In this windowless space, which measured around 1.5 meters by 1.5 meters and was lit by a bulb, the five were joined by another Israeli man. The fighters continued kicking and punching the captives for two days, Anucha said. After that, they persisted with another two days of beatings for the Israelis, who were whipped using electrical wires. He told Reuters in an interview in Don Pila village, Udon Thani province, Thailand.
Anucha was not seriously injured, but weeks after his release from captivity, his wrist still bore marks from the restraints.
The captives slept on the bare sandy floor. The six men were served flatbread twice a day and shared two bottles of water between them that was replenished daily.
Their toilet was a hole in the ground near the room, where they were taken by one of eight guards armed with assault weapons that resembled AK-47s. Guards told them not to talk among themselves.
On 26 November 2023, Thai counterpart Srettha Thavisin thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He expressed his gratitude to the Malaysian government for assisting in the safe release of Thai nationals held captive by Hamas in Gaza, Palestine.
Anwar said this was conveyed to him during their meeting with his one-day working visit to Sadao, Thailand today. “Prime Minister Srettha has expressed his appreciation to us for our efforts in helping in the safe release of the Thai nationals held captive by Hamas.”
Freelance Writer M. Krishnamoorthy (www.imkrishna.net) is a media coach, associate professor and undercover journalist. He has freelanced with Bernama, NST, The Star, and Malaysiakini. He also freelances as a fixer/coordinator for CNN, BBC, German and Australian Television networks and the New York Times. As an undercover journalist, he has highlighted society's concerns going undercover as a beggar, security guard, blind man, disabled salesman and Member of Parliament.
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