The body of the last Thai national held hostage in Gaza since the Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel was returned home on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The remains of Sudthisak Rinthalak arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport from Tel Aviv, ministry official Jeerasak Pomsuwan told AFP, more than two years after the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Sudthisak was 43 years old and working in agriculture in southern Israel when he was killed on the day of the Hamas attack. His body was then taken to the Gaza Strip and held there throughout the ensuing war.

While Hamas released the living hostages it held in Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, the process of returning the remains of deceased captives has dragged on.

Israel’s army said last week it had identified Sudthisak’s body after it was returned by militants, and handed it over to Thai authorities for burial.

Sudthisak’s father Thongma said earlier that the family had been waiting for his remains so they could perform Buddhist funeral rites in his hometown in the northeastern province of Nong Khai.

Israel’s ambassador to Thailand, Alona Fisher-Kamm, expressed condolences to Sudthisak’s family during a mourning ceremony in Tel Aviv: “May he rest in peace.”

Thai Labour Minister Treenuch Thienthong said in a Facebook post that she would “guarantee the full benefits his family is entitled to”.

Nearly 30,000 Thais work in Israel, according to the Ministry of Labour, most of them in the agricultural sector where wages far exceed those at home.

Hamas militants kidnapped 31 Thai nationals during the Oct 7, 2023 assault. Another 47 Thais were killed on the same day.

Of the 31 Thais taken by Hamas, 23 were released in early 2024, five more were freed in January 2025 and three were confirmed to have died. Sudhisak’s remains were the last to be identified.