On 1 May 2011, Labour Section of the Royal Thai Embassy in Tel-Aviv went to inspect Thai workers working in western Israel’s Kibbutz Alamo, near Dead Sea and Judean Desert. The Kibbutz has dairy farm with 240 dairy cows, 140-Rai of chili and purple eggplant farm, 400-Rai of watermelon farm, and 500-Rai of date farm.
There are 10 Thai workers working in the Kibbutz. Two of them work in the purple eggplant farm; one in the dairy farm; and seven in the date farm. The Kibbutz also hires some 100 Israeli and Palestinian workers to work in vegetable, watermelon, and date farms. Thai workers earn higher wage than local workers because the Kibbutz’s owner does want hire Palestinian workers and only allow them to work in vegetable, watermelon, and date farms, which are located further away. Some Thai workers also work part-time as a waiter or a room attendant in a restaurant and a hotel near the Kibbutz. They receive an income of 4,500-6,000 shekel per month. They have decent living condition having got their own bed room, living room, bath-room, and kitchen. Before the official from the Labour Section left, they gave the Thai workers some sport gears and Thai national flag to boost their morale.
