Thai victim: A hard-working man

Narakorn Kittiyangkul, the Thai worker from Nan killed near Gaza, "was a hard-working man who decided to go abroad as he could not earn enough to help support his large family as a taxi driver in Bangkok."

Please join us on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/bangkokpostlearning

Friday morning update

Here is more from our Post reporters on Narakorn Kittiyangkul, the Thai worker who was killed during clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants.

A hard-working man

Permanent secretary of the Labour Ministry Jirasak Sukontachart said Narakorn  was inside a greenhouse after lunch when the rocket hit. Keder Ovadia, his employer, called for a helicopter to take him to hospital but it was too late.

Mr Jirasak said the Israeli government will be responsible for the transportation of his body, as well as issuing his death certificate. In terms of his rights and privileges, the Israeli government must provide financial assistance to the victim's family.

Patcharaporn Kittiyangkul, the victim’s aunt, said her nephew's body will reach Suvarnabhumi airport about 4pm today.

"He was a hard-working man who decided to go abroad as he could not earn enough to help support his large family as a taxi driver in Bangkok," Ms Patcharaporn said. He saw that other relatives earned good money in Israel, she said.

Narakorn wanted to help his farming family with his earnings, she said. Moving to Israel cost him more than 100,000 baht and relatives lent him money for the trip.

Sumet Mahosot, chief of the Labour Ministry's Department of Employment, said Narakorn's family said they are unable to travel to Israel, and asked authorities to return the body to Thailand for a funeral.

Mr Sumet said Narakorn had only been in Israel since June 24 this year, before the current violence started.

The financial assistance to Narakorn’s family includes 40,000 baht from the Department of Employment, as well as money from his life insurance. The Thai embassy in Tel Aviv is seeking compensation from the Israeli government, he said.

Thursday stories

Noon update

The Thai embassy in Tel Aviv has asked the Israeli government to move Thai workers 10-20 kilometres away from the Gaza Strip to ensure their safety after a farm worker from Nan province was killed by a mortar shell on Wednesday.

The Thai embassy in Tel Aviv had set up a centre to monitor the situation around the clock.  So far 38 Thai workers had said they wanted to be moved to safe areas.

The embassy had contacted the Israeli Foreign Ministry and employers at 96 agricultural settlements where about 4,000 Thais are working, asking they be temporarily released from work and moved  to a safer area 10-20 kilometres from the Gaza Strip.

Mr Sek said there was no plan to evacuate Thai workers from Israel at this stage.

Morning story

Thai labourer killed near Gaza

The Director-General of the Labour Department, Sumet Mahosot, reports the death of the first Thai in the current Israel-Palestinian conflict.

According to the Thai Embassy in Israel, the victim is Narakorn Kitityangkul, a native of Nan province, who was working near Gaza where Israel is carrying out an operation to destroy rocket launchers and underground tunnels.

Mr Narakorn was in a group of 4-5 Thais. A warning signal was given that a rocket had been fired in the area, but they were outdoors and immediately sought shelter under trees, but Narakorn was very near to where the rocket (or mortar shell) hit and he was killed.

Above information based on a Post Today report. Here's more from the Bangkok Post

Foreign Ministry Information Department chief Sek Wannamethee on Thursday said Mr Narakorn was a native of Pua district of Nan province.

He was severely wounded by a mortar shell fired from the Gaza enclave on July 23. He was rushed to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon by helicopter but succumbed to his wounds and died within an hour.

Narakorn's relatives had been informed and arrangements were being made to return his body to Thailand, Mr Sek said.

According to Thairath online, Sukanya Daramat, chief of the labour office in Nan, visited Narakorn's family at Ban Khang Hang in tambon Pa Klang of Pua district to inform them of his death.  Narakorn's father, Bancha, 62, is blind and living with his relatives in a big family. His mother is dead.

Narakorn had worked in Israel for only one month before his death.

Meanwhile, here is the latest on the conflict from AFP

Kerry says 'some progress' in Gaza truce efforts

JERUSALEM, July 24, 2014, AFP – Washington's top diplomat said global efforts to end 17 days of bloodshed in Gaza were progressing as the Palestinian death toll rose to 718 Thursday and airlines kept flights to Israel suspended over rocket fears.

A family of six, including a five-year-old girl and boy of three, were among 21 killed in Israeli airstrikes Thursday as a flurry of intensive diplomacy efforts by world leaders pressed on in the region. Another two died from wounds sustained earlier.

The Islamist Hamas movement rejected any truce without the lifting of Israel's eight-year blockade on Gaza.

"We will not accept any initiative that does not lift the blockade on our people and that does not respect their sacrifices," Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said.

Hamas hailed the suspension of Tel Aviv flights by many world airlines as a "great victory."

"The success of Hamas in closing Israeli airspace is a great victory for the resistance, and is the crown of Israel's failure," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said as traffic to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport slowed to a trickle after a rocket hit close to runways on Tuesday.

As US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN chief Ban Ki-moon held talks in Jerusalem, they said they had pooled their efforts in the hope of boosting the quest for a truce.

"We have certainly made some steps forward, but there is still work to be done," Kerry said as he met the UN chief for the second time this week.

"We are now joining our forces in strength to make a ceasefire as soon as possible," Ban said, warning there was no time to lose as concern mounted over the rising civilian body count.

สามารถฝึกอ่านออกเสียงและดูคำแปลได้ที่ : http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/422251/thai-labourer-killed-near-gaza