Narakorn Kittiyangkul, the 36-year-old Thai worker killed by a mortar shell near Gaza in Israel on Wednesday, was trying to support his family by taking a chance overseas instead of being a taxi driver in Bangkok.
Narakorn Kittiyangkul, the killed Thai worker in Israel (photo courtesy of Mr Narakorn's family)
His aunt, Pacharaporn Kittiyangkul, said on Thursday Narakorn was a hard-working man but could not earn enough to support his large family as a taxi driver in the capital.
So he chose instead to work in Israel. He had seen relatives and acquaintances earn good money there.
Narakorn filed an application for a job in Israel with the Department of Employment and was later picked to work on a tomato farm.
He left Thailand on June 23, with great hopes for his and his family's future.
That morning he phoned home and told his aunt and his father that he would receive pre-trip training and his flight would take off that evening, Ms Pacharaporn said.
Her voicing quavering, she said her nephew told them they should take good care of themselves as he was leaving. She had not expected that would be his final farewell.
Ms Pacharaporn said Narakorn wanted to support his farming family with his earnings from Israel because they were poor. He was a native of Pua district in Nan province.
His father Bancha, 62, has gone blind from diabetes and high blood pressure and is living with his relatives in a big family. His mother is dead.
Narakorn's trip to Israel had cost him more than 100,000 baht and relatives had lent him money to pay the cost, the aunt said.
His body is to be returned to Thailand on Friday and is expected on a flight landing at Suvarnabhumi airport about 4pm.
Narakorn was working on a farm near the violence-prone Gaza Strip and was severely wounded by a mortar shell fired from Gaza Wednesday. He was airifted to hospital but died shortly after, the first Thai killed in the deadly violence that has erupted afresh between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in the Gaza.