Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Thailand
Thailand: the Jewish Association of Thailand, diplomatic relations since 1958, Thai farm workers in "Israel" and the 39 killed and 31 taken hostage on 7 October 2023, and large purchases of Israeli artillery, drones and missiles
Thailand has about 200 Jews, represented by the Jewish Association of Thailand, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC).[1] Thailand has had diplomatic relations with "Israel" since 1958[2] and is a major source of agricultural workers for "Israel"; 39 Thais were killed and 31 taken hostage in the attack of 7 October 2023.[3] It buys large amounts of Israeli military equipment.[4]
Jewish community and religious life
History and demography
According to the WJC, the first documented Jew in Thailand was Abraham Navarro, who arrived in 1683 as an interpreter for the East India Company and attended the court of King Narai. A permanent community dates from about 1890, when Eastern European Jewish families settled in Bangkok; Russian Jews followed after the First World War. In the 1930s about 120 German Jews were admitted with the help of local Jews, despite protests from the German government. Most of them left after the war. American Jewish servicemen and their chaplains came in the 1970s, followed by Persian Jews. The demographer Sergio DellaPergola estimated 200 to 400 Jews in 2015.[1]
Communal organisations
Jewish Association of Thailand. The association is the WJC's Thai affiliate. It runs Bangkok's three synagogues: the Ashkenazi Beth Elisheva, the Sephardi Even Chen and a Chabad house. Rabbi Chaim Kantor of Beth Elisheva is the community rabbi and the association's executive director. It also runs a Hebrew school and adult classes. The WJC says that the community gives "a considerable amount of effort" to hosting Jewish tourists, "including a large number of Israelis", and mentions the Thai-Israel Friendship Group, which connects people who have studied or trained in "Israel".[1]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad Lubavitch of Thailand
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
The Israeli foreign ministry lists an embassy in Bangkok since 1958; the ambassador there also represents "Israel" in Cambodia.[2] The WJC gives the embassy's address as 25th Floor, Ocean Tower II, 75 Sukhumvit Soi 19, Bangkok 10110, and notes an employment cooperation agreement between the two countries.[1]
Thai workers in "Israel"
Before October 2023 about 30,000 Thai labourers worked in Israeli agriculture.[5] In the attack of 7 October 2023, 39 Thai nationals were killed and 31 were taken hostage; according to Thailand's foreign ministry all 31 had been returned by December 2025, the last of them dead.[3] The ministry said in February 2025 that 46 Thai workers had been killed since October 2023, most of them in the Hamas attack and some by rockets fired by Hezbollah; five hostages freed that January were given lump sums and monthly payments by Thailand's labour ministry "to ensure they did not have to return to Israel".[6] In March 2025 the Israeli labour minister, Yoav Ben Tzur, signed a memorandum in Bangkok raising the quota of Thai workers to 13,000 in agriculture and 8,500 in construction. The Thaiger reported that this followed the ban on Palestinian workers after 7 October, and that Ben Tzur wanted to employ up to 200,000 Thais.[7]
Military ties
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) records Israeli deliveries to Thailand from the 1970s onwards, including Gabriel anti-ship missiles, 155 mm guns, Arava transport aircraft (some for signals intelligence), Python air-to-air missiles, and radars and targeting pods for the modernisation of F-5 and T-50 aircraft. Since 2012 Thailand has ordered ATMOS-2000 self-propelled guns, made under licence in Thailand, as well as Spike missiles, Hermes-450, Hermes-900 and Dominator drones, and a PULS rocket launcher made under licence for coastal defence. In 2025 Thailand chose the Barak-MX air-defence system for a THB3.4 billion ($107 million) project.[4]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $1,458.0 million from Thailand in 2025 (2024: $817.2 million) and exported goods worth $363.0 million to it (2024: $358.1 million).[8]
Political interference
UN voting
Thailand voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[9]
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Indonesia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Malaysia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to the Philippines
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Singapore
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Vietnam
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Cambodia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Laos
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 World Jewish Congress, Community in Thailand worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Israel says Palestinian groups returned body of Thai hostage BBC News, 3 December 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Thai nationals held captive by Hamas in Gaza return home Reuters, 9 February 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Thai Gaza hostages: Freed men arrive home to tears of joy in Bangkok BBC News, 9 February 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Israel boosts Thai worker quota to 21,000 amid labour shortages The Thaiger, 6 March 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports CBS, December 2025 issue (library copy).
- ↑ United Nations General Assembly, Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by Al-Quds Al-Arabi).