Every foreigner who visits or works in Thailand is a reflection of their home country. If you act badly and engage in illegal activities, your actions are a direct reflection on your county. Brit acts badly - it reflects on the UK. Russian acts badly - it reflects on Russia. American acts badly - it reflects on the US. Israeli acts badly - it reflects on Israel. Every year some foreigners act badly. If multiple instances of foreigners from the same country act badly - it tends to get negative press. Regarding the Israeli emissary, Dr Alona Fisher-Kamm, "The talks focused on false information that could mislead the public and have a negative impact on Israeli tourists and the Israeli community living in Thailand." And yet? In my own humble opinion, the small country of Israel makes the most fuss out of any critique of their citizens, and it looks at those they want the Thai government to shut down all claims of Israelis acting badly and label those instance as "misinformation" and "fake news." Here's the problem. When some kid from Liverpool tags a "sacred wall" with graffiti, it gets press, and most of the time citizens of the UK would denounce the behavior. When some US couple are caught shagging on the beach, it gets press, and most of the time citizens of the US would denounce the behavior. When some German gets into a fight with a Thai national tuk-tuk driver and it is obvious that the German started the fight, most of the time German expats would denounce the behavior. When some Israelis act badly, like busting up an emergency room in Northern Thailand - would citizens of Israel denounce the behavior of their citizens, or claim that Thailand is antisemitic? Fair question. In this case the Israeli embassy commented that Israeli citizens are guests in the country and should respect the laws and norms of Thailand. But my questions is - is Dr Alona Fisher-Kamm seeking to have Thailand censor any critique by non-Israelis by labeling critique of Israeli behavior as "disinformation" or "fake new?" If your citizens act badly and emissaries of your country want to get involved, then censure your citizens actions and work with Thai authorities to make sure your citizens behave well while living and working in Thailand - don't try to cover it up from the start and suggest Thai authorities should become the front line of censorship if Israeli citizens are caught acting badly.
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