Settha Homsorn

Settha “Tom” Homsorn, 36, a Thai agricultural worker from the Nakhon Phanom province in northeastern Thailand, was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7 in Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

He is survived by his father, Phaeng Homsorn, an older sister, Netnapha, and two younger brothers, Jessada and Anuwat, as well as an 8-year-old daughter; his mother died in August. His body was returned to Thailand for cremation on November 9.

His friend, fellow Thai laborer Wayo Yama, described the moment of the attack in a harrowing interview published by the Kan public broadcaster.

When they heard the missiles start, Yama said, they ran for their shelter. Shortly afterward, he said, “four men showed up, they came straight up to our house, they were in plain clothes, but they had guns, grenades and knives,” recounted Yama.

“Tom had no idea why people were running, that’s why he opened his door. And they were right outside his room. He was captured right there. He said ‘I’m from Thailand, I’m from Thailand,’ but they didn’t listen. They took Tom,” he said.

They also took Yama and tied up his arms and covered his head. They brought a group of them to the home of someone else in the kibbutz. When the terrorists guarding Yama looked away, he grabbed an opportunity and “jumped out the window.”

Yama escaped, but Homsorn was killed alongside their other friend, Nitikorn “Lee” Seawang, while others were taken captive.

“I am sorry that I couldn’t save them,” he said. “I saw it all but I couldn’t do anything. I am so sorry about this. And I want to tell them that I miss and love them very much.”

Homsorn’s Facebook page shows that he worked in Israel since at least January 2020. He posted photos of himself visiting the Dead Sea, working on a tractor, harvesting produce and posing with IDF soldiers. In May 2021, during Operation Guardian of the Walls, Homsorn shared photos of Iron Dome interceptions as well as a fire in a field caused by a fallen rocket or shrapnel.

On September 27, two days after Yom Kippur and a little over a week before he was killed, he posted an image of himself wearing a small knitted kippa.

His brother, Jessada Homsorn, who also worked in Israel and returned home after the war started, was quoted by a local Thai news outlet saying he is “very sad having lost someone in the family. But if the war ends, I want to go back to work there again, because I believe that it will be the only way to be able to build a better future.”

His friend Piak Saiyopo wrote on Facebook: “One of the Thai workers who died is a brother I know… we used to watch movies together, used to eat together. I would always go to see you and be welcomed… may you become a star in heaven.”

Homsorn’s sister, Netnapha, wrote on Facebook: “I miss you so much… every baht, every satang, you sent it home, to dad, to mom, to your child, to take care of them… it’s a pity for the sweat, it’s a pity for the dream that you would get out the tractor, come back and buy a garden to live with your child. Every time I think about it, my heart breaks.”
Source: The Times of Israel