[COLUMNIST] Thailand's neutral stance tested as Israel pushes boundaries: Questions arise over Thailand's tolerance

THAILAND’s neutrality is being put to test once again as the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok continues with their relentless anti-Hamas campaign, this time on the back of 100 motorized rickshaw known locally as tuk-tuk with posters of the remaining 130 hostages still being held by the Palestinian group.

The Thai government quickly distanced itself from the campaign, saying the Israelis did not consult with them but said nothing about the appropriateness of it all.

But in the view of observers and at least one pro-Palestinian group in the country, the campaign could undermine the release of the remaining eight Thai nationals.

The tuk-tuk incident was not the first time Israel irritated Thailand with its effort to discredit Hamas. Last October at the UN General Assembly, the Israeli ambassador angered the Thai government with a footage of a Hamas militant attempting to decapitate a Thai worker. Thai Foreign Ministry said the footage was disrespectful and inconsideration for the deceased and his family.

And then came the Israeli-Thai flag incident on November 30 at the Bangkok International Airport where hundreds of journalists and photographers were waiting to receive the recently released 17 Thai hostages returning from Israel.

Prime Minister Srettha Tavisin greeted them via a video conference and Foreign Minister Pranpee Bahiddha-Nukara didn’t seem to care that all the former hostages were wearing tee shirt with Israeli flag on it. There was no reference to Hamas, not even a little “thank you’, while the Muslim countries -- Malaysia, Turkiye, Egypt, Iran and Qatar -- that mediated with Hamas for the release of the Thai workers didn’t even get an honorable mention.

Pranpree did, however, met with ambassadors from these countries three days earlier on November 27 to thank them.

Perhaps Thailand felt it was still debt of gratitude to Israel for hiring nearly 30,000 Thai farmhands in areas just stone throw away from the Gaza border. It was a government-to-government arrangement. It didn’t occur to the Thai officials that these jobs could have gone to local Palestinians, at least not until it was time to negotiate for the release of the Thai workers.

Foreign Minister Pranpree had made a visit to Qatar and Egypt from October 31 – November 1, 2023. Three weeks after the visit, ceasefire kicked in, and Israel and Hamas began to swap prisoners for hostages, Thai nationals were among the released.

Anti-Israel protests in Thailand, including the Muslim-majority southernmost border provinces, has been extremely low. Rebel Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) issued a video statement on October 12 condemning Israeli actions, but it didn’t generate much traction in the public sphere.

But on December 17, local activists organized a march from the Pattani City Hall to the Pattani Central Mosque, carrying an Palestinian flags, to protest Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Apparently, they were thumping their noses at the Fourth Army Area who didn’t ponder the consequences of their action when they told the local leaders to keep quiet about Israel.

One thing that wrecked the nerve of many Thai people was the fact that the remaining eight Thai workers were not among the hostages who were released on the very last round, one day before the ceasefire ended and one day after the Thai-Israeli flag incident at the airport. Perhaps people are afraid to ask if this had anything to do with that public display of the love affairs between Thailand and Israel at the Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Looking back, it is too bad how Thai people quickly forget about blunders by its leaders. From day one, PM Srettha shot himself in the foot with that one-sided statement on his Twitter account about the October 7 bloodbath as if Hamas’ attack happened in vacuum.

The Office of the Sheikhul Islam of Thailand issued a much more sensible statement stressing the need for all sides to respect humanitarian principles and norms. Couple days after that, the Thai Foreign Ministry made effort to balance Srettha’s statement.

Thailand made international headlines because 32 Thai workers, the highest number of foreign nationals, were abducted by Hamas militants on the October 7 raid. Thirty-nine Thais were reported killed during that raid.

Some Thais took the abduction personal, while others suggested that Israel was using the Thai workers as human shield.

Thailand needs to be mindful of the fact that the countries that helped secure the release of Thai workers are no friends of Israel. Would be better for Bangkok to prioritise their relationship with country who had helped them?

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* Asmadee Bueheng is a freelance writer based in the Patani region of southern Thailand. He is the author of Rawang Thang Satta (“Along the Road of Faith”), published in March 2023.

** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.