Hundreds rally at Israeli embassy in Bangkok to demand foreigners respect Thai laws

BANGKOK (AP) — Hundreds of people demonstrated outside Israel's embassy in Bangkok on Thursday to demand foreigners show more respect for Thailand's laws and culture as public discontent over bad behavior by visitors has increasingly focused on Israeli tourists.

“The era of gentle diplomatic pleasantries and calculated silence, which has been misinterpreted as tacit consent, has come to an end,” protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul, a media mogul and political activist, told the crowd while reading from an open letter to Israel’s ambassador to Thailand, Alona Fisher-Kamm.

Fisher-Kamm met Tuesday with Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow to address concerns and discuss possible solutions.

Sondhi said the embassy and Israeli government should understand “generosity must never be mistaken for weakness, hospitality does not equate to submission to exploitation and courtesy is not an open license for anyone to act with impunity on our sovereign soil.”

In a video message posted to Facebook on Thursday following the morning protest, Israeli embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Rami Teplitskiy said they are not ignoring news and negative sentiments about Israeli tourists in Thailand.

“The embassy will continue to work hard to foster sustainable friendship and ensure everyone enjoys Thailand with mutual respect,” he said in a message delivered in Hebrew with English and Thai subtitles.

The relevant agencies in both countries are working to resolve the issues together and Israeli visitors to Thailand will receive official travel guidance asking them to respect Thai laws and culture, Teplitskiy said.

Sondhi, who founded a protest movement that led to the 2006 ouster of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, voiced a litany of complaints against Israelis in Thailand, including violations of domestic laws, creating public disturbances and showing disrespect for local traditions and cultures.

Thailand's economy is heavily dependent on tourism , but also has implemented new measures to ensure visitors respect the country's norms. The government also has cracked down on foreigners who overstay visas or seek to circumvent property-ownership regulations, while also shortening visa-free stays.

Israeli visitors last year generated about $1.2 billion of Thailand's $48 billion in income derived from tourism. More than 277,000 Israelis visited Thailand in the first eight months of 2026, up about 7% over the same period last year, according to Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

In a high profile case, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul last week ordered the deportation of an Israeli man who was convicted of threatening a zoo owner on the resort island of Koh Samui. The zoo had displayed a Palestinian flag.

The case was the first use of new regulations designed to ease the deportation of foreigners who break Thai laws or show “undesirable behavior.”

The French citizen who owned the zoo also had been accused of causing several other unrelated disturbances and was ordered to be deported days later.

While there has been a focus on Israelis, a confrontation in July between a Thai woman and a group of boisterous Italian students on a Bangkok train was caught on video and went viral, sparking widespread anger against the visitors. The Italian embassy intervened and posted an apology video from the group.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Fisher-Kamm, the Israeli ambassador, acknowledged the concerns during the meeting with Sihasak and proposed issuing a “do's and don'ts” document for Israeli travelers, which was a demand by protesters on Thursday.

The Thai foreign minister said after the meeting that Thailand felt it could not “stand idly by” if visitors are acting detrimentally toward the country or people.

“Thailand is a country that welcomes tourists, but at the same time, our hospitality doesn’t mean that tourists, regardless of their nationality, can do whatever they want in Thailand,” Sihasak told reporters in Bangkok.

The Israeli embassy told The Associated Press on Wednesday it takes the concerns seriously and has provided practical guidance about Thailand to Israeli communities, adding that those who violate the laws should face appropriate consequences.

Public attention, however, may be disproportionate to the scale of incidents involving Israeli citizens and should not be taken as a representation of all Israelis in Thailand, the embassy said.

Chabad of Thailand, the country’s branch of an Orthodox Jewish movement that was mentioned by name in the open letter by protesters, said it had no immediate comment on the demonstration or the letter.

David Rising in Bangkok and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed to this report.