Israelis & Other Foreigners Under Investigation

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Authorities exhumed four human corpses Wednesday (September 16) buried in an illegal "Jewish Cemetery" amid escalating investigations into Israelis allegedly breaking the law by deceptive real estate deals and lucrative businesses, sparking tension between Bangkok and Tel Aviv.

The gruesome disinterring occurred while Thai security forces and ministries' officials focused on tourist-packed commercially active areas in Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Pai.

Investigations, arrests, property seizures, deportations and ongoing cases involving foreigners -- especially Israelis -- have hit a sensitive nationalistic nerve here in conservative, Buddhist-majority Thailand. 

Voicing the anti-Israeli sentiment, popular Thai rock star Aed Carabao aka Yuenyong Opakul released his newest song in September titled, "Where Do Jewish People Come From?" 

Its Thai title is "Kon Yiw Ma Jak" -- literally "Person Jew From Where?" 

The lyrics warn: "Zionist, Zionist, Zionist / Israel is not Thai / Thai soil is not Canaan / Thai soil is not Israel."

Aed Carabao reportedly posted on Facebook that he supported rallies to prevent an unknown number of Israelis taking over Thailand's popular tourist destinations such as the tropical island Koh Phangan and up north in forested Pai.

A "Jews Out" sign displayed in Bangkok during a protest by about 300 conservative and royalist Thais in front of the Israeli Embassy on September 10, was widely seen as a dangerous echo of World War II's antisemitic Nazis.

"One Thai participant, perhaps unaware of the Nazi associations of the phrase, waved a 'Jews Out' placard," the Bangkok Post noted.

At that "Take Our Country Back" demonstration, Thai celebrity activist Siranudh "Psi" Scott held a "Keep Zionist Expansion Out of Thailand" sign.

Carrying Thailand's red-white-and-blue striped national flag Mr. Scott, family heir to Thailand's Singha beer fortune, said his message to Israel's ambassador was:

"Get the fuck out! We don't want you here. We don't want you or your IDF soldiers in Thailand.

"We are a nation of peace, but we're not scared to kick your ass," Mr. Scott said.

“If the demonstration had only been about improving Israeli behavior, or opposing the presence of Israelis in Thailand, then chants of ‘Free Palestine’ and insults against Jews should not have been there," Israel's Ambassador to Thailand Alona Fisher-Kamm said after the rally.

“There are areas [in Thailand] where the numbers show significant Israeli involvement, such as illegal land purchases, and there are serious cases,” she said in an interview with Israel's Ynet news on September 15.

"Insulting people, shouting, arguments, music and noise in the middle of the night. There is a feeling that Israelis think everything is allowed," she said.

Thais are concerned about "some Israeli expats whom they fear are planning to take root in Thailand and control real estate, businesses, and even subvert Thai sovereignty," Khao Sod English news reported.

"It is basically a combination of xenophobia, a nation [Thailand] facing economic stagnation, genuine grievances, plus some people’s opposition to how Israel has conducted itself mercilessly in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and recently, in Iran," it said in a report headlined: "Growing Anti-Israel Sentiment in Thailand."

Israelis in Thailand -- including those who became Thai citizens -- run hotels, restaurants, guided tours and other businesses, display Hebrew signs, and usually cluster in crowded tourist zones.

At the illegal Jewish Cemetery Thailand, 60 kms (40 miles) east of Bangkok in Chachoengsao province, the four dead appeared to include three Israeli men and a British woman.

Their identification was only on paper and needed to be confirmed by forensics, officials said.

One Israeli died in 2023 while the cemetery was licensed, two other Israeli men died in 2025, and the British woman died in 2026, their papers said. 

They will be reburied, cremated, or kept -- presumably refrigerated or embalmed -- at another cemetery.

The illegal cemetery where they had been buried was earlier blocked by officials from renewing its license.

A report allegedly said the cemetery was dangerously close to a public canal and could make the water toxic, while its real estate's paperwork purportedly placed it safely farther away.

"The cemetery is unlicensed," Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said on September 7 because its three-year license, issued in 2021, expired in 2023.

The cemetery was operated by Kan Chabad Co. Ltd., according to the Interior Ministry.

Officials want to determine if Kan Chabad Co. and the cemetery are financially linked to any of the handful of Chabad Houses scattered across Thailand, and if their finances are in order.

More than 3,000 Chabad Houses in more than 100 countries are run by the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of orthodox Hasidic Judaism, which originated in eastern Europe and is popular in New York City's Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Chabad Houses were founded in the 1950s by the late Lubavitcher Rabbi Menachem Schneerson. 

They offer kosher food, temple services by a Lubavitcher rabbi, Torah classes, ritual bath and medical facilities, financial loans, social clubs, prison visits, and other hospitality to all visiting and resident Jews.

The U.S. State Department's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Yehuda Kaploun, is an Israeli-American Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi.

"He serves as primary advisor to the United States on global antisemitism issues," the State Department said after he was appointed by President Donald Trump in December 2025. 

The gray-bearded Hassidic rabbi posted on X on September 11 he was "deeply concerned by rising antisemitic rhetoric in Thailand.

"The State Department remains in close contact with Thai authorities to ensure that the Jewish community is protected."

On Phuket, an island popular with international tourists and wealthy expats, officials began on September 15 inspecting Phuket's Chabad House including its overall fundraising activities, island land ownership, permits, building approvals, licenses and business structure to determine if the Jewish community center broke any laws.

Investigators into Phuket's Chabad House include Thailand's powerful and dreaded Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) which usually focuses on the smoldering, decades-long Islamist insurgency by ethnic Malay-Thais in Thailand's Muslim-majority south.

Originally a U.S.-backed force in the 1950s against suspected communists during the Cold War, ISOC now grapples with narcotics smuggling, online scams, human trafficking, illegal immigration and other complex security concerns.

Thailand's Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow met Israeli Ambassador Fisher-Kamm on September 8 to discuss two major problems involving Israelis.

"This was a frank, straight-to-the-point conversation," Mr. Sihasak said. 

"The issue is one that is causing real concern among Thai people. It concerns a series of incidents involving Israeli nationals in Thailand, whether they are tourists or those running businesses here," he said.

"Any foreigner, of any nationality, who breaks the law in Thailand will face the same strict enforcement."

The second problem they discussed involved Israelis who are increasingly perceived as loud, obnoxious, devious, and arrogant when encountering Thais in public -- resulting in uploaded videos of their shocking behavior and insults -- which feed Thais' outrage.

"Certain actions have affected the feelings of Thai people, affected Thai culture and traditions, and affected the way of life of Thai people in the area, particularly in Phang Nga and Phuket, where Israelis have gathered as a community," the foreign minister told the ambassador.

"What we do not want is a situation where, if nothing further is done, this ends up damaging relations between our two countries."

Prime Minister Anutin wants Bangkok's good relations with Tel Aviv to continue, partly because about 60,000 impoverished Thais work in Israel on rugged construction and agricultural projects, providing desperately needed income to their families.

Most of those financially famished and often heavily indebted families dwell in northeast Thailand's Isan region, which is the prime minister's political base.

Thais began replacing Palestinian workers in Israel after the 1987-1993 Palestinian uprising, known as The First Intifada, against Israel.

Tel Aviv assists Bangkok with security, cyberspace development, irrigation projects and other issues.

Meanwhile, a Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah feast and celebration for hundreds of Jews at Phuket's nondescript Chabad House was cancelled at the last minute on September 11 by Israeli security officials who feared violence by  protesters at the event.

Stung by increasingly public anti-Israeli complaints and widespread vicious comments on social media, the Israeli Embassy sent its diplomats to several towns to try and cool Thai tempers.

The Israeli Embassy also issued a brochure and Facebook video advising Israelis to obey Thai laws and not violate its conservative traditions.

Thai and Israeli officials emphasized that Israelis were not being singled out by the investigations.

They pointed to nearly 200 ongoing investigations across Thailand involving Russians, Chinese, British, French, Australians and others suspected of violating Thailand's complex ownership and foreign shareholding laws.

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Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based American foreign correspondent reporting news from Asia since 1978, and winner of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondents' Award. Excerpts from his two nonfiction books, "Rituals. Killers. Wars. & Sex. -- Tibet, India, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka & New York" and Ehrlich's newest, "Mindfucking DeepSeek: Pushing China's AI to the Extreme" are available at
https://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com