Overview
- Thailand’s foreign ministry said the body arrived at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Dec. 10, more than two years after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
- A public farewell was held on Dec. 9 at Ben-Gurion Airport with Thai Ambassador Boonyarit Vichienpuntu, Israeli officials, and members of Israel’s Thai community in attendance.
- Rinthalak, 43, was killed near Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7 and his body was held in Gaza for 789 days before militants returned it to Israel, where the army identified the remains last week.
- Israel’s hostages coordinator Gal Hirsch offered condolences and said the state is responsible for all hostages, while Israel’s ambassador to Thailand conveyed sympathies and Thailand’s labour minister pledged full benefits to the family.
- Relatives in northeastern Thailand plan Buddhist funeral rites, as officials note 47 Thai nationals were killed in the conflict and nearly 30,000 Thais work in Israel, most in agriculture.