Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara leaves Thailand today for a three-day visit to Qatar and Egypt, to seek help from the two governments in getting 22 Thais, held captive by Hamas, released.

A government source said that Parnpree is scheduled to meet with the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar today in Doha and the foreign minister of Egypt in Cairo tomorrow.

In an earlier interview, Panpree said the goal is the release of Thai hostages as soon as possible, although no one knows exactly where the hostages are being held. They could be in the Gaza Strip or elsewhere.

The government is ready to negotiate with Hamas via any channel available for the release of the hostages, he said.

Two groups of Thai nationals, totalling 232, arrived at Don Muang airport late last night on two commercial flights. The arrivals were briefed by labour officials at the airport about the compensation and benefits they are to receive from the government before they departed for their home provinces either by bus or air.

One returnee, a native of Lampang province in northern Thailand, told a Thai PBS reporter at the airport that he had worked on a pig farm in Israel for more than six years and had never experienced violence on such a scale as the Hamas attacks on October 7.

He said that he had assessed the situation and decided to return home, because he believes that the war will escalate and it will be difficult to get repatriated in the future.