Bangkok’s skyline photographed during sunset in Bangkok, Thailand, Jan. 4, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

An Israeli mother and daughter were brutally attacked while vacationing on Thailand’s Koh Phangan island, leaving them both with serious injuries requiring surgery in what appears to be one of the latest violent antisemitic attacks amid an increasingly hostile and dangerous environment confronting Jews and Israelis overseas.

According to the Israeli news outlet Ynet News, the 62-year-old mother had traveled to Thailand for a two-week vacation with her 23-year-old daughter, who was already visiting the country.

Earlier this week, the pair rode a motorcycle to visit a waterfall on the southern island of Koh Phangan, a popular tourist destination in the Gulf of Thailand. While walking near the site, they encountered a man who asked where they were from. After the daughter replied that they were from Israel, the man began confronting them over the war in Gaza.

Although the women repeatedly told him they did not want to discuss politics and were simply on vacation, the man continued arguing, telling them, “I don’t like what Israel is doing there” and “I’m against violence.”

After briefly appearing to calm down, the man suddenly turned violent, rushing toward the women and launching a brutal physical assault before they had time to react.

“Out of nowhere, he started beating me viciously and bit my ear,” the mother told Ynet News from her hospital bed. “We have injuries all over our bodies, everything is swollen. We went through what felt like a terror attack. It was horrifying.”

The attacker continued beating the mother, repeatedly kicking her and striking her in the head until she reportedly lost consciousness.

When the daughter rushed to defend her mother, she too was violently assaulted. She later managed to break free and ran toward the road to seek help, but the attacker chased after her.

The assailant fled only after realizing the daughter had managed to alert nearby bystanders, who rushed to help and called the emergency services.

“I remember lying on the road while people told me that police and an ambulance were coming,” the mother said. “They bandaged my head and took my daughter and me to a hospital in Koh Phangan.”

Both women suffered severe injuries that required surgery. The mother underwent emergency treatment for internal bleeding in her head and surgery on her ear, and is expected to require another operation, while her daughter underwent surgery to repair injuries to her nose.

Even though their conditions were initially classified as serious, both women stabilized after spending 24 hours in intensive care.

According to the mother’s testimony, the suspect, who holds a French passport, was later arrested after allegedly becoming involved in another violent incident in a nearby town. During that episode, he reportedly attacked police officers, who later determined he was the same man accused of assaulting the two Israeli women.

Still recovering from her injuries, the mother said she never imagined she would become the victim of such a brutal assault, describing the attack as carried out in “the most brutal way possible.”

“I never thought something like this could happen to me here in Thailand, where people are so friendly toward Israelis,” she said. “I am always careful and usually do not say I am from Israel. But here in Thailand, I thought it was safe.”

“We tried to fight back, but he was extremely violent,” she continued. “This happened in a place where we never dreamed it could happen. We will learn not to say we are from Israel, because you can never know how someone will react.”