Last Saturday (4 October), protesters marched through central Bangkok in a solidarity march co-hosted by at least seven NGOs and activist groups. The demonstration carried three main demands: the suspension of Thai worker deployment to Israel; the immediate termination of all arms trade and military agreements with Israel; and the screening of all Israeli visitors for involvement in Israel’s Occupation Forces (IOF).

The march came almost 2 years after the 7 October 2023 attacks, which led to Israel’s current war on Gaza, and two days after Israel intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian aid flotilla attempting to travel to Gaza, and detained almost 500 activists aboard 39 boats.

Participants departed from the Asok BTS Station and headed to the Israeli Embassy, marching through heavy rain. Hundreds gathered gradually, with leaders chanting, "Free, free, Palestine!"

As the sun broke out through the clouds, motorcyclists jumped onto traffic islands, waving Palestinian flags amid laughter and chanted demands.  The participants were quite diverse. Some brought their children. Influencers were also visibly in attendance, posting updates, calling upon their followers to join and livestreaming from the scene.

"Building and supporting a Palestine liberation movement here is important”said Chalit Ratapana, a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) Thailand.

“We can rally people together and create an international united front of human rights activists, unionists, peasant movement, leftists, etc. by taking a stand against the genocide in Gaza and the illegal occupation in Palestine.”

By fighting injustices abroad, Chalit believes, people can strengthen social justice at home.

Aumsan, a 55-year-old Thai Muslim, came to the march with his 8-year-old son. They stood at the edge of the crowd, looking at the flags coloured in green and red, and the posters showing “Thailand stands with Palestine.”

“I would like to stand up for human rights.” Aumsan explained that he and his son had wanted to join the previous march, but couldn’t because of the earthquake. This time, he said, he was following his son’s lead. He also mentioned that many countries are calling for the Israeli government to stop the genocide.

The crowd burst into chants, undeterred by the bad weather. Aumsan and his son were soaked, but didn’t leave.

After the Global Sumud Flotilla was intercepted, protests took place in a number of countries including in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and Switzerland. In Thailand, a second protest took place on Sunday (5 October) in Pattani. Local media reported that thousands of protesters gathered at Rusamilea Beach carrying Palestinian flags. Over 80 boats were reported to have participated in the protest, a symbolic flotilla in solidarity with the Global Sumud Flottilla.

Two years on, the death toll in Gaza is now in excess of 67,000 people.  According to a 1 October 2025 report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), this includes 562 aid workers,  some 362 of whom were UN staff.  Some 251 journalists and media workers have also dies in the conflict.

(Photo by Sabo Cat)

(Photo by Sabo Cat)

(Photo by Sabo Cat)

(Photo by Sabo Cat)