The Immigration Bureau has confirmed it is tightening screening measures for foreign nationals arriving from conflict zones in the Middle East, following public concern about the number of Israeli citizens staying in the country. Officials said rumours claiming hundreds of thousands of Israelis are residing in Thailand are inaccurate. Authorities reported that only around 31,892 Israeli nationals were present in the country as of 10 March 2026.

Get today's headlines by email

The clarification came after social media and media reports suggested that up to 425,000 Israelis were living in Thailand, with large concentrations allegedly in provinces such as Phayao, Phrae, Lamphun, Amnat Charoen and Satun. The claims raised fears that large foreign communities could affect local economies, resources and potentially draw Thailand into geopolitical tensions linked to the Middle East conflict. Immigration officials said the figures circulating online were incorrect.

According to Pol Maj Gen Cherngron Rimphadee, deputy commissioner and spokesperson for the Immigration Bureau, official data shows 420,202 Israeli nationals entered Thailand through five main airports in 2025, while 405,712 departed. In 2026, between 1 January and 11 March, 84,238 Israelis entered the country and 80,171 departed.

Cherngron said the figures indicate there is no unusual pattern of large numbers remaining in Thailand. Data from the Immigration Bureau’s technology centre recorded approximately 31,892 Israelis in the country on 10 March 2026, including visa-exempt tourists and those staying under visas for business, education or family reasons.

Further provincial checks found very small numbers applying for long-term stay extensions. Amnat Charoen had one Israeli applying to remain for retirement purposes, while Phrae and Phayao reported none.

Tourism provinces showed slightly higher numbers but still limited totals. Mae Hong Son recorded 139 visa extension requests, while Surat Thani, including islands such as Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, recorded 5,938 Israeli visitors and visa holders combined between January and 11 March 2026.

Pol Lt Gen Phanumas Boonyalak, commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, has instructed immigration offices nationwide to intensify screening of foreign nationals, particularly from countries involved in Middle East conflicts. Officers are reviewing travel history, travel plans, accommodation bookings and return arrangements, and individuals raising suspicion may be refused entry.

Immigration officers are also inspecting hotel foreign guest registrations and gathering intelligence in foreign communities, particularly in major tourist areas. Authorities are coordinating with intelligence and security agencies to monitor potential threats, although no specific warnings have been issued.

Officials acknowledged the enhanced screening may slow immigration processing at airports. Waiting times at Suvarnabhumi Airport have reportedly increased to around 50 minutes during peak flight periods, compared with the previous average of under 30 minutes.

Thaitabloid reported that Police chief Pol Gen Kitrat Phanphet and deputy police chief Pol Gen Samran Nualma previously ordered all police units to remain vigilant to prevent Thailand from becoming a target in disputes between foreign states. Immigration authorities said the measures aim to maintain security while balancing tourism needs as the Songkran festival approaches.

Picture courtesy of Thaitabloid

Join the discussion?

Already a member?

Adapted by ASEAN Now Thaitabloid 13 Mar 2026

View full article

Maybe the Israelis want to take over Thailand too... starting to occupy it already

Thai immigration’s tighter screening of Israeli arrivals is being reported in the context of online rumours.

The Immigration Bureau's response is that claims of massive Israeli settlement are unfounded and not supported by arrival/departure data.

If the concern is simply about monitoring foreign nationals during periods of geopolitical tension, the same logic could apply equally to Russians, Ukrainians, or any other large expatriate groups who choose to live long‑term in Thailand. Many nationalities have significant communities here.

The current concerns appear driven more by rumours than evidence, and authorities have already stated that verified immigration records show no irregularities.

If you guys only had a clue how bad they behave and act in Samui, Phangan and Pai you would have right away signed a paper to deport them. They are also everything but genuine and break every rule, it's like the gaza style behavior.

2 minutes ago, BuffaloRider said:

If you guys only had a clue how bad they behave and act in Samui, Phangan and Pai you would have right away signed a paper to deport them. They are also everything but genuine and break every rule, it's like the gaza style behavior.

So just like Russians then?

Just now, gargamon said:

So just like Russians then?

No lol, it's way way worse than that. We actually wish for even Russians and Indians to come more instead. No joke here. I was personally shocked in the first months as I was always told they were supposed to be so well educated, smart, 'superior'. It's the opposite.

This was the entire history lessons in my youth too, that hitler was just a evil man who hated 'intellectuals', which obviously is crap. They did the same <deleted> back then already with the central banks and more. The bible even mentions what they repeatedly do wrong.

I have never seen more entitled, rude and law breaking people, in such a large mass, while being such a small population, period. Heavy PTSD western soldiers on RR behave better.

And no we not talk about a few bad apples here, it is the exception to have a good apple with them. They even mock foreigners for goyim to turn on their lights at bungalows on friday nights. Then they jump up and down all night with 5-6 people behind curtains celebrating. I once even had israeli kids throwing rocks at bikes passing by. All this in Thailand, unheard of, you would say before.

Many people think they are arabs too, while they are not, lol.

To add during covid it was still fun, I got a deal with them on the resort to turn on their lights for 1 small chang beer, I got like 10-20 every friday. Again i am not making this <deleted> up.

I now get the kids throwing rocks too, that was a friday, they are not allowed to use them. Anyway, shows you what the parents teach them and the fact we 'goyim' need to fight their wars... They wouldn't care a second if our entire countries or nations went broken, if they aren't already.

How do they know these figures as most Israelis have dual passports .

2 hours ago, ronster said:

How do they know these figures as most Israelis have dual passports .

With that behaviour they could in fact be Palestinians with Israeli passports?

1 hour ago, Xonax said:

With that behaviour they could in fact be Palestinians with Israeli passports?

Is that a heavy-handed attempt at humour, or a line from the Hasbara playbook?

The 85k Israelis were just tourists. Some behave badly...just like all tourists. It is unfair (but NOT antisemitic) to single them out.

The problem occurs when the young Israelis, fresh out of the IDF, think of Thailand as a no-rules paradise. They were just locked up shooting people for two years and then they hit the Land of Smiles.

I don't know how we solve this problem while remaining just. Israelis come to Phangan for the drugs and the Full Moon Parties.

1 israeli can make problem everyday and everywhere. Dont need thousands.

They need to screen the israelis entering Thailand as many are Mossad agents who are in Thailand for nothing good.

Nothing new about this situation.

As long ago as the early '80s the biggest mountain trekking outfitters in CM banned Israelis after getting so many complaints about their bad behaviour from the hilltribe guides the company employed.

No possibility of "anti-semitism" because in those days the guides had little interest in, or knowledge of geopolitics.

15 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

following public concern about the number of Israeli citizens staying in the country. Officials said rumours claiming hundreds of thousands of Israelis are residing in Thailand are inaccurate. Authorities reported that only around 31,892 Israeli nationals were present in the country as of 10 March 2026.

31,892 on a given day still is a lot, looking at Israel's population.

And the public concern seems to be somewhat justified, there have been many news stories about criminal activities by Israeli gangs especially on certain islands lately.

Best to be watchful.

True, living in the south of France we are flooded with them in the summer months when the clothes factories in Paris close for summer.

They are very rude and not very well liked by the local community and especially the beaches / shops etc. We are happy when they go back home.

There are no other singular nationalities that give us a headache. We also have a huge amount of people from the Middle East, who are always polite and never a problem.

14 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Maybe the Israelis want to take over Thailand too... starting to occupy it already

Wait till you see Kibboets pop up in the north.

12 hours ago, BuffaloRider said:

If you guys only had a clue how bad they behave and act in Samui, Phangan and Pai you would have right away signed a paper to deport them. They are also everything but genuine and break every rule, it's like the gaza style behavior.

They shoot people in tourist spots?

15 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Maybe the Israelis want to take over Thailand too... starting to occupy it already

Be a lot better place.

26 minutes ago, DD86 said:

Wait till you see Kibboets pop up in the north.

You mean a kibbutz, right?

33 minutes ago, geisha said:

True, living in the south of France we are flooded with them in the summer months when the clothes factories in Paris close for summer.

They are very rude and not very well liked by the local community and especially the beaches / shops etc. We are happy when they go back home.

There are no other singular nationalities that give us a headache. We also have a huge amount of people from the Middle East, who are always polite and never a problem.

We say the same about the French

Contrary to seemingly most of the posts in this thread, I have generally had positive experiences with the Israelis in Thailand. Having said that, all my experience has been in Bangkok, mainly in the Khao San area.

Anyway, I guess it is best not to overgeneralise any group of people, positively or negatively.

3 hours ago, Sigmund said:

They need to screen the israelis entering Thailand as many are Mossad agents who are in Thailand for nothing good.

Thailand is already chalk full of ex sas and american super spies.

1 hour ago, Packer said:

Just more Jew lies?

"Roughly 800,000 to 900,000 Israelis are estimated to hold dual citizenship, which is about 10% of the population. Roughly 10% hold a second passport"

Rubbish. Up to possibly 700,000 are possibly holding US - Israeli passports and that's just one country . Then add Europe and anywhere else .

19 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

The Immigration Bureau has confirmed it is tightening screening measures for foreign nationals arriving from conflict zones in the Middle East, following public concern about the number of Israeli citizens staying in the country.

IDF draft dodgers. Cowards.

An offensive troll post has been removed.

5 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Be a lot better place.

You mean a kibbutz, right?

We say the same about the French

So much hate for the ****🤔

17 hours ago, gargamon said:

So just like Russians then?

More like Ukraks.

I want to correct some misinformation in earlier posts about the number of Israelis with dual citizenship. The number of currently serving IDF soldiers with dual citizenship is 50,632, with 12,135 holding U.S. passports.

According to scholarly research published in 2024:

"The total number of dual citizens in Israel (with all countries) can be estimated at between 800,000 and 900,000–about 10% of the country’s population."

The article said there were nearly 300,000 dual U.S.-Israeli citizens and about 380,000 with dual citizenship in Israel and an E.U. country.

Herzog, Ben. "Exceptionalism and Comparability—Dual Citizenship in Israel after October 7th." Israel Studies, vol. 29 no. 1, 2024, p. 112-121. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.2979/is.00011.

The link to the article is: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/article/924729

See also: Yossi Harpaz, “Compensatory Citizenship: Dual Nationality as a Strategy of Global Upward Mobility,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 45, no.6 (2019): 897–916; Yossi Harpaz and Ben Herzog, Report on Citizenship Law. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323895496_Compensatory_citizenship_dual_nationality_as_a_strategy_of_global_upward_mobility

AI gives this answer when asked, "How many Israelis have dual citizenship?"

The exact number of Israelis with dual citizenship is not officially published, but estimates suggest between 800,000 and 900,000, which represents about 10% of Israel’s population (approximately 9.9 million in 2024). Some sources, including law firms and academic research, indicate the number could be over 1 million when including all foreign citizenships.

If any member has other sources for the number of Israelis with dual citizenship, please list them so we can compare.

@Evil Penevil

No matter how you slice it, it's still baloney.

7 minutes ago, MisterTee said:

@Evil Penevil

No matter how you slice it, it's still baloney.

What is still baloney? The claim that most Israelis have two passports is worse than baloney, it's bunk.

By 2024, about 80% of Israel's population was born in Israel. They don't have dual citizenship from birth.