Three Israeli citizens in their 20s were attacked overnight Tuesday while spending time at a bar on the island of Koh Samui in southern Thailand.
One of them sought medical treatment at a hospital, and another apparently managed to flee but has not been heard from since.
The man who escaped had met the two others shortly before the incident, and they knew nothing about him. There are no indications that anything has happened to him. Conversations with the families of the two other Israelis indicate that the attackers were French tourists of Arab origin.
According to the Israelis’ account, the Frenchmen approached them after realizing their national identity, and a confrontation quickly escalated into physical violence. The Israelis fled to the restroom, but the attackers pursued them, robbed them and beat them with clubs. Police were called to the scene and broke up the fight. Koh Samui police have opened an investigation and are attempting to locate the suspects.
One of the Israelis sustained fractures to his ribs, jaw, teeth and a vertebra in his back. His sister, Hodaya, told ynet: “They were speaking Hebrew when the attackers approached them and said: ‘We will kill you,’ ‘Itbah al-Yahud’ (slaughter the Jews), ‘Free Palestine.’ My brother managed to call my mother on video, and she saw live how they were beating him. The security guards at the venue cooperated with the attackers and also beat them. In the end, a girl they had met on one of the beaches found them and evacuated my brother and another friend to the hospital. The third guy is missing and not answering his phone.”
The Foreign Ministry said that “the Israeli consul in Bangkok has been handling the matter since receiving the report in order to assist them and to work with Thai authorities to ensure the police investigation is fully pursued.”
Hodaya added: “They filed a complaint with the police in a process that lasted several hours. My brother is traumatized, terrified. He says the police are trying to extract false statements from them and convince them that the attack was criminal rather than nationalist in motive.”
And you are convinced it was nationalist?
“Absolutely. They’re good guys. They came to have fun. My brother went through something tragic, and we arranged a surprise trip for him so he could enjoy himself, and it turned into trauma.”