Rising Anti-Israel Sentiments in Pai Following Tourists Misconduct

[webfact]

Sign in a Pai restaurant declaring "No Israel here" on the right, and an image of the foreign tourist involved in an incident with two female restaurateurs on the left. Composite courtesy: AMARIN TV

 

Tensions are simmering in Pai, Mae Hong Son, as anti-Semitic sentiments have surfaced, leading several businesses and a local restaurants to display signs stating that Israeli tourists are unwelcome. This reaction follows disturbances caused by certain Israeli travellers.

 

On 8th February, Police Lieutenant Colonel Suwit Bunnaphen of the Mae Hong Son Tourist Police confirmed the removal of disruptive Israeli tourists from the country. These individuals were charged with causing disturbances at Pai Hospital and have had their entry permits revoked.

 

Picture courtesy: AMARIN TV

 

The incidents underscore concerns about some foreign tourists who, by behaving poorly and violating laws, disrupt the peace and order of the local community.

 

Police Major General Sakyasira Pueng-um, from the tourist police, emphasised rigorous law enforcement for all tourists, irrespective of nationality, aiming to ensure equal treatment and maintain peace.

Following these events, authorities in Pai intend to enforce tourism-related laws more strictly to ensure a harmonious environment for both tourists and locals.

 

Social media activity has compounded the situation. One Facebook user posted that a local restaurant has refused entry to Israeli tourists. Another post, featuring a video, showed inebriated tourists behaving inappropriately, leading to fear among local businesses. The post's author expressed security concerns, feeling anxious with only two women managing the establishment.

 

Picture courtesy: AMARIN TV

 

Immigration Police Inspector, Police Lieutenant Colonel Wichai Panna, said efforts are underway to locate and question the tourists from the viral video to address the concerns raised by local businesses.

 

In 2024, Pai saw 221,776 foreign tourists, including a significant number from Israel. However, official statistics often overestimate actual stays due to repeated accommodation reports for the same individuals as they move locations.

 

Currently, it is estimated that around 2,000 to 3,000 Israeli tourists reside in Pai, a notable reduction from official figures, reported Amarin TV.

 

RELATED TOPIC

4 Israeli men fined for causing chaos at hospital in Mae Hong Son
https://aseannow.com/topic/1351023-4-israeli-men-fined-for-causing-chaos-at-hospital-in-mae-hong-son/

 

-- 2025-02-10

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

Sounding to be much more anti Israeli than antisemitic.

I serioudly doubt Jerry Seinfeld would have any problem being served in Pai, unless there is some kind of soup Nazi`shop there.

[hotsun]

Are israeli toruists really any worse than the russian ones in phuket? Maybe crazy western politics is making its way here too

[RJRS1301]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Sign in a Pai restaurant declaring "No Israel here" on the right, and an image of the foreign tourist involved in an incident with two female restaurateurs on the left. Composite courtesy: AMARIN TV

 

Tensions are simmering in Pai, Mae Hong Son, as anti-Semitic sentiments have surfaced, leading several businesses and a local restaurants to display signs stating that Israeli tourists are unwelcome. This reaction follows disturbances caused by certain Israeli travellers.

 

On 8th February, Police Lieutenant Colonel Suwit Bunnaphen of the Mae Hong Son Tourist Police confirmed the removal of disruptive Israeli tourists from the country. These individuals were charged with causing disturbances at Pai Hospital and have had their entry permits revoked.

 

Picture courtesy: AMARIN TV

 

The incidents underscore concerns about some foreign tourists who, by behaving poorly and violating laws, disrupt the peace and order of the local community.

 

Police Major General Sakyasira Pueng-um, from the tourist police, emphasised rigorous law enforcement for all tourists, irrespective of nationality, aiming to ensure equal treatment and maintain peace.

 

Following these events, authorities in Pai intend to enforce tourism-related laws more strictly to ensure a harmonious environment for both tourists and locals.

 

Social media activity has compounded the situation. One Facebook user posted that a local restaurant has refused entry to Israeli tourists. Another post, featuring a video, showed inebriated tourists behaving inappropriately, leading to fear among local businesses. The post's author expressed security concerns, feeling anxious with only two women managing the establishment.

 

Picture courtesy: AMARIN TV

 

Immigration Police Inspector, Police Lieutenant Colonel Wichai Panna, said efforts are underway to locate and question the tourists from the viral video to address the concerns raised by local businesses.

 

In 2024, Pai saw 221,776 foreign tourists, including a significant number from Israel. However, official statistics often overestimate actual stays due to repeated accommodation reports for the same individuals as they move locations.

 

Currently, it is estimated that around 2,000 to 3,000 Israeli tourists reside in Pai, a notable reduction from official figures, reported Amarin TV.

 

RELATED TOPIC

4 Israeli men fined for causing chaos at hospital in Mae Hong Son
https://aseannow.com/topic/1351023-4-israeli-men-fined-for-causing-chaos-at-hospital-in-mae-hong-son/

 

-- 2025-02-10

 

 

 

Please understand that being anti- genocide is not anti- Semitism

Many Israelis are not Zionists

Most current Israelis are of European decent, not from Middle Eastern heritage and have no historical connection to the land

[save the frogs]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Currently, it is estimated that around 2,000 to 3,000 Israeli tourists reside in Pai

reside? so are they tourists ... or ? 

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Please understand that being anti- genocide is not anti- Semitism

Many Israelis are not Zionists

Most current Israelis are of European decent, not from Middle Eastern heritage and have no historical connection to the land

Any person, Jewish, Israeli, or anything else that supports the right of Israel to exist is pro Zionist.

You have no understanding of what Zionism means.

Zionism does not conflate with current Israeli government policies.

Most current Israelis are NOT of European descent.

You're thinking of American Jews.

The Jewish people in general most definitely do have a historical connection to Israel. 

Older than Arabs for sure.

Israeli is a Jewish majority middle eastern country.

You're spouting ignorant propaganda.

[Aussie999]

A few Israelis cause a disturbance and we see this article, signs banning Israelis, Israelis deported, but not the same action against Russians, Indians, Poms, Aussies and many other nationalities... I guess too many, and too much money lost, and maybe Israelis refuse to pay the corruption payments.

[Jingthing]

Just now, Aussie999 said:

A few Israelis cause a disturbance and we see this article, signs banning Israelis, Israelis deported, but not the same action against Russians, Indians, Poms, Aussies and many other nationalities... I guess too many, and too much money lost, and maybe Israelis refuse to pay the corruption payments.

That's very true and ironically Israelis are often Russians too. 

[hotsun]

1 minute ago, Aussie999 said:

A few Israelis cause a disturbance and we see this article, signs banning Israelis, Israelis deported, but not the same action against Russians, Indians, Poms, Aussies and many other nationalities... I guess too many, and too much money lost, and maybe Israelis refuse to pay the corruption payments.

My thoughts exactly

[Jingthing]

It does sound like an overreaction to punish all Israelis as if they all behave the same way. Even if most did, it's still not fair to those who don't. But consider we're talking about people on a holiday. Fairly trivial in perspective. If a specific town in Thailand or Thailand in general is going to treat Israelis unfairly as a class of people, there is a big world out there. 

[Bkk Brian]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Social media activity has compounded the situation. One Facebook user posted that a local restaurant has refused entry to Israeli tourists. Another post, featuring a video, showed inebriated tourists behaving inappropriately, leading to fear among local businesses. The post's author expressed security concerns, feeling anxious with only two women managing the establishment.

Not surprising the anti semitism is coming to the surface after their fixation with all things nazi. Education desperately needed here in Thailand

 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-europe-battles-anti-semitism-thailand-grapples-with-nazi-chic/

 

Swastikas and statues, SE Asia's fixation with Nazi iconography

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1638402/swastikas-and-statues-se-asias-fixation-with-nazi-iconography

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Not surprising the anti semitism is coming to the surface after their fixation with all things nazi. Education desperately needed here in Thailand

 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-europe-battles-anti-semitism-thailand-grapples-with-nazi-chic/

 

Swastikas and statues, SE Asia's fixation with Nazi iconography

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1638402/swastikas-and-statues-se-asias-fixation-with-nazi-iconography

I'm still not convinced the Thais in Pai are being antisemitic. They are being anti Israeli without a doubt. That said if a visible non-Israeli Jew shows up in Pai that would be interesting and I'm not really sure how they would be treated.  Some people don't understand what visible Jew means so here goes.

 

Jewish visibility - Wikipedia

 

[Bkk Brian]

1 minute ago, tony2times said:

Does that include Israel??

What does "EVERYWHERE" mean to you?

[Social Media]

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[dinsdale]

Sadly idiots populate every nation on earth. Some of them travel to other countries and take their idiocy with them.

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, hotsun said:

Maybe crazy western politics is making its way here too

Invite the west in , the behavioural pattern comes with it..

[Sig]

1 hour ago, RJRS1301 said:

Please understand that being anti- genocide is not anti- Semitism

Many Israelis are not Zionists

Most current Israelis are of European decent, not from Middle Eastern heritage and have no historical connection to the land

And I'd bet that most Israelis traveling in Thailand have ZERO to do with any sort of genocide, real or imagined.

[Sig]

12 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Invite the west in , the behavioural pattern comes with it..

That's hilarious. The false dichotomy of "east-west" always has to rear its head.
"Behavioural patterns" of the east are so absolutely flawless that the entire world should emulate every aspect of them, since they are so obviously superior, as every Tibetan, Uygher, Ainu, Dalit, and Rohingya can testify to, there is no doubt all of the west should adopt the ways of the east immediately. That doesn't even begin addressing their clearly superior political and economic practices! If we could only follow their bright shining star, we'd all probably be living at peace and be millionaires! I mean, look at the wonderful living standard of the average native living in the east, particularly ones who never suffered from being educated and brainwashed in the west! The superiority of the education in the east is the ultimate example of why the west should never have been allowed in! Just look at the AMAZING brilliance of the ones who have only been exposed to local/"eastern" education and not sullied by the west! They are the cream of the crop and lead in every industry.
(Said nobody ever anywhere, who was not already committed to an insane asylum)

[hotchilli]

5 minutes ago, Sig said:

That's hilarious. The false dichotomy of "east-west" always has to rear its head.
"Behavioural patterns" of the east are so absolutely flawless that the entire world should emulate every aspect of them, since they are so obviously superior, as every Tibetan, Uygher, Ainu, Dalit, and Rohingya can testify to, there is no doubt all of the west should adopt the ways of the east immediately. That doesn't even begin addressing their clearly superior political and economic practices! If we could only follow their bright shining star, we'd all probably be living at peace and be millionaires! I mean, look at the wonderful living standard of the average native living in the east, particularly ones who never suffered from being educated and brainwashed in the west! The superiority of the education in the east is the ultimate example of why the west should never have been allowed in! Just look at the AMAZING brilliance of the ones who have only been exposed to local/"eastern" education and not sullied by the west! They are the cream of the crop and lead in every industry.
(Said nobody ever anywhere, who was not already committed to an insane asylum)

What I meant to convey was that individuals will come here and behave as they do at home.

Some are responsible and some are not.

 

[AGLV0121]

Young people misbehaving is not specific to any nation or ethnic group. Bullies are found everywhere.

For what I know, being a Zionist is just wanting to live in the land of Israel. Unknown to most, there was a genocide of jews during the first rebellion of the Jews and over a million have been killed at the hands of the Romans, troops of Vespasian and Titus, his son. The Titus Arch in Rome tells about the 100,000 Jews brought to Rome for the games. During the second rebellion in 132-136 Common Era, about 600,000 to 900,000 Jews again were killed.

Although this triggered a diaspora west and northwards, many Jews stayed in this land. Now, with successive generations, about 70% are indigenous. All the above can be found true from Wikipedia [not too reliable as an authoritative source] and other sources.

Let's hope a better future for all inhabitants of this region, and of the earth, by extension. However, I've not seen any blame or comments on - as for migrations - those so-called leaders in Africa who sell their land to China, France or Russia, nor many comments about the Assad family, no condamnation of terrorist groups placing rockets at the borders of Israel and triggering attacks. Whatever.

[spidermike007]

Being anti Israeli is very different than being anti Semetic. That is a grossly overused term. 

 

Just like disagreeing with extremist Israeli policy is not anti Semetic. 

 

Thais love money, so these guys must have been misbehaving to be asked to leave, or turned away. Perhaps these young Israeli goons don't understand a simple concept called respect. 

[Yagoda]

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Sounding to be much more anti Israeli than antisemitic.

I serioudly doubt Jerry Seinfeld would have any problem being served in Pai, unless there is some kind of soup Nazi`shop there.

Always standing up and making excuses for the haters. Typical

[findlay13]

1 hour ago, dinsdale said:

Sadly idiots populate every nation on earth. Some of them travel to other countries and take their idiocy with them.

Unfortunately too many end up in the LOS. 

[findlay13]

It's great to see all the posters who know everything about Zionism, Israel, Jews, Ant-i semitism, etc. but then Asean Now posters know just about everything there is to know about everything anyway.If I want to understand a problem I just turn to Asean Now for the answer.😏

[Yagoda]

Jew Haters gonna hate, nothing to stop it. IN the US most of them are too chicken<deleted>e to admit it in polite company or in real life, since in the USA, Jew Haters are not quite our crowd. America isnt Europe, with the Socialist Jew hate permeating their existence, there is less chance of social opprobrium.

[Yagoda]

15 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Being anti Israeli is very different than being anti Semetic. That is a grossly overused term. 

 

Just like disagreeing with extremist Israeli policy is not anti Semetic. 

 

Thais love money, so these guys must have been misbehaving to be asked to leave, or turned away. Perhaps they don't understand a simple concept called respect. 

Spoken like a true outed Anti-semite and one of the prominent ones on this Forum. 

 

Its that "extremist" Israeli "policy", of course.

[hotsun]

6 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Jew Haters gonna hate, nothing to stop it. IN the US most of them are too chicken<deleted>e to admit it in polite company or in real life, since in the USA, Jew Haters are not quite our crowd. America isnt Europe, with the Socialist Jew hate permeating their existence, there is less chance of social opprobrium.

USA is the only safe place for jews in the modern era due to the lack of muslims. The really sad thing is the white liberal folks brainwashed by media to take the muslim side, even though muslims kill white people for not believing in their god. I think Europe Australia and Canada are very far gone and im not sure if any new government can save them anymore

[OneMoreFarang]

"Rising Anti-Israel Sentiments ..."

 

Are we talking about bad feelings against the country Isreal? Or citizens from that country, Israelis?

Not same, different.

And for the record, both above are also different from anti-Jews and antisemite. 

 

I understand that restaurants and bars don't want misbehaving customers. I wonder how they know if customers come from Israel. Do they have a certain look? Or is it the language? Or the attitude? How do they identify them? 

[koolkarl]

The airheads have been brainwashed by the media, in particular, Al Jazeera.  This is exactly what Hamas wants in its strategy.  So a couple of Israelis caused minor trouble and you see the reaction.  Recently I read that a couple of Indian men got caught urinating on the beach in Pattaya  and nothing happens!  I wouldn't frequent any Thai restaurant displaying an anti Israel sign and I am not from Israel. 

[Sig]

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I know what you're saying but face it, Thailand isn't a PC country. There are all kinds of businesses that are discriminatory in who they serve. Such as places for Japanese where no westerners are allowed. If Israelis still want to go to Pai and they can't find any room at the Inn, I would suggest this is a great opportunity for an entrepreneur to cater to them. Their blood is still red and their money still spends. 

Not sure if you ever lived in Japan or not, but this idea that Japan exercises this sort of thing is so minimal, it's hardly worth thinking about IMO. I lived there over for over 10 years and I only experienced such treatment 3 times. Two of those times, it is was by a business owner whose father was killed in World War 2, by the American military and they were still holding a grudge. And once, it was from an old man who fought in the war and still held that grudge. I felt sorry for them and could also empathize with them. Then again, one year, I worked for a guy who fought in Manchuria and he LOVED America! I worked all over the country, working in Japanese film production, shooting on locations from cities to the deep countryside, where I got the idea that a foreigner maybe had ever even set foot! Anti-foreign sentiment exists, as it does anywhere in the world, but the thing about westerners not being allowed in a business is EXTREMELY rare in my experience. And now we are so far beyond the war, it is probably even much less than it was in the 80's and 90's. Other discomforts in dealing with foreigners for Japanese people is far too complex to address here, but it isn't as much about blind racial prejudice as people make it to be - AT ALL. I find it VERY different than in some countries where it seems to be so often borne out from some sort of inferiority complex and a blanket prejudice. In Japan, I believe it has more to do with a variety of cultural issues that affect a person's honor, "face", feelings, proper etiquette, etc., and how stressful it can be to deal with a foreigner, in so many ways. But when you speak Japanese fluently and behave accordingly - once they know that, 99% of the time feelings of discomfort vanish instantaneously. In one of those adventures in a far flung countryside village, I even enjoyed a wonderful time of tea in a family's living room while sitting below a picture memorializing their father and grandfather who was killed on the battleship Yamato! And here I was... a former American Navy guy! Life can be interesting.... Of course, there will always be some prejudice everywhere. It is often not what it appears on the surface to be.