Civic groups yesterday called on the government to provide assistance for Thai workers in Israel, saying a large number of workers face rights abuses and the risk of death.
The group cited research conducted by Israeli academics in 2012 that showed 122 Thai workers had died from 2008 to 2012 in Israel.
Out of the 122 deaths, the study found 43 of the workers died from sudden unexpected death syndrome (SUDS) due to excessive working hours and unsanitary living conditions.
The cause of death for 22 other workers has not yet been determined because the Israeli authorities failed to carry out autopsies.
Several civic groups have urged the government to open talks with Israel on the problems faced by labourers, as they say too little is being done.
Supang Chantavanich, a researcher at the Asian Research Centre for Migration, said state agencies had largely ignored the problems faced by Thai workers.
Currently there are about 24,000 Thai agricultural workers employed in Israel, and most of them face serious labour rights abuses, the report said.
The study by the Israeli academics shows that 6% of Thai labourers work for more than 186 hours a month, 38% were paid lower than the legal minimum wage or were forced to wait for their salary, and 17% work in poor conditions and are fed inadequate meals.
A total of 12% of labourers have no day off and employers refuse to pay wages to cover sick days, while 3% don't have any health insurance.
Ms Supang said if the rights abuses are not resolved within 3-6 months, the government has declared it will stop sending workers to Israel. The timeframe was set by the Labour Ministry.
A survey by Human Rights Watch in 2014, which interviewed 173 Thai workers in 10 farming communities across Israel, also highlights the poor treatment of Thai labourers.
The survey found that most workers interviewed were also paid less than the legal minimum wage, were forced to work longer than the legal limit, exposed to unsafe working conditions such as pesticides without adequate protection, and unable to gain access to medical care.
The civic groups want state agencies such as the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Labour Ministry, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the National Human Rights Commission to help tackle the problem.
Thai workers in Israel must be treated according to the framework that covers international human rights and they must not be victimised by their employers or used in human trafficking rings, Ms Supang said.
Israel has a foreign labour law but state authorities fail to impose it on those who hire labourers.
Out of the country's employers and recruitment firms, 15 were fined the equivalent of 10.4 million baht, 145 were let off with a warning and only one recruitment firm had its licence suspended by the Israeli authorities.
The groups also want the Thai government to ask Israeli officials to conduct autopsies on the 122 Thai workers who died and to compensate their families.
The Labour Ministry and the IOM must discuss a plan to restructure recruitment procedures to ensure Thai workers abroad are treated fairly, she said.
Ms Supang said the Labour Ministry also must urge the Israeli government to strictly enforce the foreign workers law to prevent Thai labourers falling victim to rights abuses.
The Public Health Ministry should also ensure workers receive adequate medical care when they are abroad, she said.
The civic groups also plan to raise the issue with permanent secretary for labour Nakorn Silpa-Archa on Friday, Ms Supang added.