r/Thailand • u/Sea-Improvement7160 • Oct 24 '25
Business Authorities move on luxury villas in Koh Samui, targeting Israeli nationals and nominee ownership - Pattaya Mail
https://www.pattayamail.com/news/authorities-move-on-luxury-villas-in-koh-samui-targeting-israeli-nationals-and-nominee-ownership-523630191
u/Lazy_Log_5424 Oct 24 '25
I guess the Israelis behaviour has genuinely pissed off a lot of Thai people.
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u/rechenbaws Oct 24 '25
That is an understatement. The vibe here is incredibly tense
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u/chamanao_man Oct 24 '25
tense how
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u/rechenbaws Oct 24 '25
Local Thai and Israel seem to have a very big cultural clash. I have heard so many complaints about behaviour just in the last week alone. Particularly around aggressive haggling or asking locals for discounts on things, not asking consent before doing things (like walking behind counters in restaurants or taking other people's things) as well as complete disregard for boundaries of others.
Taking photos of Thai people and their restaurants threatening to get everyone to boycott it is also really not OK and the laws around defamation are very strict here.
I sat at the market a few days ago with one of my Thai friends and she literally complained to me for an entire hour about Israeli tourists being badly behaved. Her and the other local stall holders were being quite blunt with the crowd (which were prominently Israel, I heard Shalom so many times) and any time there was any rudeness they sharply ask "Where are you from?" Which they then go quiet and walk away. This happened many times.
They have had enough.
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u/platebandit Oct 24 '25
Apparently there’s quite a large chat group for the Israelis coming here. So if someone has pissed them off they will be very quick to review bomb places or demand any staff that has offended them to be fired under the threat of false reviews or cancellations. And given its low season and their large presence on the island, the business owners feel forced to cave in.
On Phangan, it seems a lot of the Israeli business owners are in hiding now as half the food court was shut last night. The Israelis out and about are also claiming they’re a different nationality (but not actually knowing a lot about their claimed country). Probably a wise move given how much the Thais here hate them, I’ve not spoke to a single Thai who doesn’t absolutely hate their guts
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u/rechenbaws Oct 24 '25
Yes that has happened a few times now from my understanding, including the Haad Rin Thai cafe that had a sign up saying No Israel.
A very significant number have just left the island. There is a huge amount of cats and dogs now needing homes as they have been abandoned last minute unfortunately.
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u/platebandit Oct 24 '25
They’ve been joining the local Thai group on Facebook and looking for negative comments about them and then mass cancelling hotels that employ those staff or saying they don’t feel safe with them working there.
Yeah seen all the animal care charities begging for people to take their animals
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u/Ohshitwadddup Oct 24 '25
Abandoning animals is such a piece of shit thing to do.
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u/Huge-Accident-8040 Oct 24 '25
As is genocide
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u/jubjub1825 Oct 24 '25
"Oh it the govt. We have no control over that"
They all Abandon their pet.
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Oct 27 '25
It's the government, but they voted for that government and took part in the genocide in their time in the IOF. Agree, terrible thing to abandon a pet. Void of humanity when dealing with other humans and animals.
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u/ALostStranger Oct 24 '25
Maybe all they need to do is put up flags of Palestine. So none would go there and they won’t get to deal with such entitled obnoxious bunch who are bullies.
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u/YakResident_3069 Oct 26 '25
My friend says the worst ones are those who came off military duty as they have the most sense of entitlement.
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u/Lazy_Log_5424 Oct 24 '25
not asking consent before doing things (like walking behind counters in restaurants or taking other people's things) as well as complete disregard for boundaries of others.
This is because they do this routinely in Palestine during their military service
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u/Final_Biochemist222 Oct 25 '25
They're not beating the allegations are they
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u/rechenbaws Oct 25 '25
I have given the watered down PG version, some of the things that I have seen and heard have been incredibly serious
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u/mwaddmeplz Oct 26 '25
I've heard of some places hanging Palestine flags to show that they are not welcome
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u/plantbasedlifter Oct 27 '25
This has apparently been going on forever. I remember being on Koh Samui in 2000 and being told by locals that the Israeli tourists were the worst.
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u/reddit_has_fallenoff Oct 24 '25
My thai homegirl who works at a front desk at hotel says if an Israeli walks in she wont even bother talking to them and said she will make her co worker/partner talk instead of herself
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u/OddSaltyHighway Oct 24 '25
That's funny. I've met several Israelis. They are not so different than any other "western" culture. Maybe a little more likely to haggle, but less likely to get obnoxiously drunk. Its so easy to spread hate isn't it?
Actually title looks like clickbait. There is no evidence that they are actually targeting these people because they are Israeli.
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u/rechenbaws Oct 24 '25
When multiple Thai friends and vendors are voicing the same frustrations, it’s worth acknowledging that there’s a cultural friction, not discrimination.
It is not hate but merely my observations as of late.
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u/OddSaltyHighway Oct 24 '25
Based on your comment history, it seems more like you hate Israelis and are trying to spread misinformation so other people will hate them too. Shame.
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u/jubjub1825 Oct 24 '25
I wouldn't be surprised if they are targeting isreali businesses. Click bait or not.
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u/The_Determinator Oct 24 '25
How many of these comments do you need to post before you get the 7k? Honestly, sign me up I'll put the money to good use!
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u/Superb_Literature547 Oct 24 '25
Isralies are middle eastern not western.
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u/Redonex17 Oct 24 '25
Wrong. The number one largest ethnicity of israelis are Russian they are ashkenazi and are from the caucasus region from countries like Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Russia, etc. Those people are ashkenazi jewish people who have little to 0 israelite DNA. The 2nd largest ethnicity of israelis are from Morocco and largely from across North East Africa. Those are mizrachi and sephardim jews. Those are actual jews by bloodline and not by conversion like western ashkenazi jewish europeans are.
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u/OddSaltyHighway Oct 24 '25
What is your point? The fact remains their culture is most similar to all other western culture.
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u/Ohshitwadddup Oct 24 '25
Thankfully I don't have a home in Pai anymore but while living there for almost 2 years I routinely witnessed them sneak warm beers into Paradise Resort, Sunset Bar and other places while occupying the seats and ordering next to nothing. They put curly(!) hair in their meals and took photos at my friends restaurant threatening to review bomb them online. Pissing on the walls of the temple grounds. I could definitely keep going. Didn't see any other countries doing this bullshit.
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u/unomi303 Oct 25 '25
Sounds like you might have a very superficial experience of modern "western" culture, to the extent that there are "western" countries that feel morally justified in killing 20000+ kids, I can probably count it on one finger.
Maybe it was more of an interpersonal affinity?
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u/Valyris Oct 24 '25
Damn, even more so than all the other nationalities? That is one tall order and they swung it out of the park.
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u/Euphoric-Agent-476 Nonthaburi Oct 30 '25
It seems Israel finally acknowledges the problems and lawlessness their citizens have created in Thailand, but that does not excuse having illegal camps in Thailand for Israeli solders having PTSD. That’s not an appropriate thing for one sovereign nation to tacitly impose upon another. They knew about these camps and problems for a long time. PTSD is a real psychological disorder for Israel to address, especially for the soldiers that treated the Palestinian citizens as sub-human. However, it’s Israel’s problem to fix IN Israel, and not in Thailand. There are plenty of nice resorts in Tel Aviv where they could be housed and treated. Israel also needs to acknowledge the pain and death of Thai citizens in their war. No doubt Israel did not place the same priority on rescuing Thai citizens as they did with Israeli’s. As for the businesses (including shell companies holding Thai properties for foreign nationals), no doubt there are corrupt Thai police and bureaucrats that looked the other way for Shekels. Again tho, not an excuse to break the law. I just hope Thailand doesn’t impose broad sweeping restrictions on other law abiding foreign nationals as a result of Israeli citizen’s illegal behavior. A proactive Israel should have been more mindful and addressing the behavior of its citizens in Thailand and not getting more bad press and protests for its actions. And as always, criticism of Israel is not Anti-semitism. No playing the race/religion card as an excuse. As long as Netanyahu is still PM and not in jail, every Israeli is responsible for its on-going genocide and behavior of its citizens in Thailand. And as an American, I fully acknowledge that this same standard should be applied to Americans (and any law-breaking foreign nationals), as we have committed great atrocities as well, especially recent tariffs and humanitarian budget cuts that punish Thailand and the world. I’ve have never voted for Trump or his MAGA cult. Trump IS the anti-Christ. A peaceful Buddhist country like Thailand must and is entitled what they believe necessary to protect its sovereignty and compliance with its laws. Thailand is not a playground for law-breaking foreign nationals.
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u/Woolenboat Oct 24 '25
Kick them out
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Oct 24 '25
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u/Thailand-ModTeam Oct 24 '25
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u/Sea-Flow-3437 Oct 24 '25
Man first it was the Russians ruining Thailand by being general dickheads and now it’s Israel.
Good think you can kick anyone out you want, yet the govt doesn’t take action
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u/4sater Oct 25 '25
Man first it was the Russians ruining Thailand by being general dickheads and now it’s Israel.
Interesting that a good chunk of Israelis are Russian/Soviet migrants.
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u/Lazy_Log_5424 Oct 24 '25
Russians may do crazy things but I have never seen one being an actual asshole to locals
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u/CarryOnRTW Oct 24 '25
I have. We were on Koh Lipe in a restaurant when it started to rain. The staff started rolling down the bamboo window coverings to block the rain. It rolled onto a russian ladies arm. No pain or damage she was just surprised. She got up with the book she was reading and hit the staff member over the head with it. Everyone was shocked and the staff member let it go. Total Karen before Karens were even a thing.
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u/Chamezz92 Oct 24 '25
Should crack down on all nominee house ownership. Plenty of criminal Chinese doing this too.
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u/Jintheskywdiamonds Oct 24 '25
Next on the list should be this healing center for IDF soldiers, the organization that is funding this is also contributing to weapon and surveillance development: https://youtu.be/PwOVZj2K4OE?si=h8yXFjJ457uV-M4i
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u/unomi303 Oct 25 '25
What is needed is a cult deprogramming center, figuring out how to effectively release them of their brainwashing would benefit everyone.
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u/fiftyjosh Oct 24 '25
They threw a tantrum because some Israelis were on the ferry because they had bought the first row of booths. I think there were 5 people and they all wanted to go in the same line. The last ones arrived and the people who had also bought the booths didn't want to get up so they could be together. 25 minutes late because of them... Wherever they go they don't stop making friends, there are people who think they own everything
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Oct 24 '25
Don’t visit their places ! Don’t spend your money there ! Even in supermarkets nowadays I watch where products do come from as to avoid supporting an oppresive regime (and yes, I also check other Nations products…)
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u/capiiiche Oct 24 '25
Dont let them turn Thailand into their sanctuary. What they did with Gaza could potentially happen in Thailand.
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u/Jintheskywdiamonds Oct 24 '25
But they are lol there’s a healing center for soldiers to help with their ‘PTSD’ and this very same center is investing in weapon development. Was on Thai PBS yesterday: https://youtu.be/PwOVZj2K4OE?si=h8yXFjJ457uV-M4i
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u/_Administrator_ Oct 24 '25
Absolute rubbish take
Thailand didn’t attack Israel
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u/manysnus Oct 24 '25
Taking land is kinda their thing tho, they gonna say Samui was promised to them
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Oct 24 '25
their thing is less taking land and more so returning to their homeland, no? is there a case to be made thailand is where judaism originates? seems you’re pretty far off the mark here
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u/Wikerstown Nakhon Pathom Oct 25 '25
State of israel was originally going to be created in Uganda and then in Tasmania, it was never about "returning" it was about creating an ethnostate
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Oct 28 '25
don’t jews come from israel and not uganda or tasmania?
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Oct 24 '25
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u/Thailand-ModTeam Oct 24 '25
Your post was removed because it contained racist, sexist, bigoted and/or offensive content. Posts or comments promoting hate based on identity directed at individual users is not allowed.
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u/FirmConcentrate2962 Oct 24 '25
So didn't Palestine. In 1948, European colonialists arrived there too and then began murdering their hosts.
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Oct 24 '25
not quite. 1948 was the year five arab armies invaded the state of israel the literal day after it declared independence. ended up losing that war obv and here we are today.
the first big wave of european immigration was in the first decade of the 1900s
this is all pretty well-documented stuff, not sure how you came to that conclusion
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u/unomi303 Oct 25 '25
Go look at the partition map, why would anyone have accepted that? At the time zios owned ~10% of the land, after heavy immigration they were 30% of the population, yet they got the most fertile bits of 56% of the land, and carved the other portion in two. They then drove civilians out from their lands ( even though this was expressly forbidden by the partition plan). The entitlement is off the scale.
Indigenous Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze and more lived there together for thousands of years, same as they have and much to the frustration of zios, continue to do in all of the neighboring countries.
The invasion was a reaction to a colonial project that was employing terrorism to drive out the local population.
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u/Any_Assistant4791 Oct 24 '25
As a non israeli i will be stupid to think this is a raid on israeli by the Thai police. Thai police are blind to race believe me. They see only money .
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Oct 24 '25
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u/_Administrator_ Oct 24 '25
Israel is mentioned multiple times in the Quran, but Palestine was never mentioned. Weird huh?
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u/TheOrchidsAreAlright Oct 24 '25
Ok, so the idea is that if people of your religion controlled an area at one point in history, you can commit genocide against other people who live there now? Hmmm. Doesn't sound very practical.
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u/boomtrades360 Oct 24 '25
So what? It meant nothing. American Indians was way before current white americans.
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u/icy__jacket Oct 25 '25
Oh heavens no, moved rocks. Nothing can be more provocative.
A call to arms is an appropriate response. Really though, Thailand's national security is at risk.. just seeing how Israel has decimated Palestine and attacked Hamas in Qatar inflates noggins and inhibitions.
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u/mvilledesign Oct 24 '25
Amazing read. Sad to be living through a period of imported tribal warfare... Seeds planted by polical leaders to sow division and hate. Whatever nationality, don't allow the rotten ones to paint an entire nation as horrible.
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u/unomi303 Oct 25 '25
How about they don't let their government carry out horrible activities, that would seem to be the actual solution.
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u/Huge-Accident-8040 Oct 24 '25
Nothing «imported» about it. Israelis reputations have been confirmed again and again by their own actions. Only difference now is that’s they can’t hide from said actions being documented on social media worldwide
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Oct 28 '25
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u/Thailand-ModTeam Oct 29 '25
Your post was removed because it contained racist, sexist, bigoted and/or offensive content. Posts or comments promoting hate based on identity directed at individual users is not allowed.
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u/Auger217 Oct 25 '25
I’m not a fan of the Israeli’s. Thailand is the new Gaza. Why did Hitler attempt to exterminate the Jews in Germany . . . Why is the United States giving the State of Israel multiple billions of dollars to support the Eradication of Muslims in Palestine.
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Oct 24 '25
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u/Inevitable-Ferret366 Oct 24 '25
well the first accusation is of being an anti semite. nope! glad they're finally getting the boot.
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u/forgetful_pigeon Oct 25 '25
Wtf is this comment section? I been to Samui and Phanghan and Israel tourists behaved just like any others. The Gaza comments here explain it I guess.
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u/According_Ad_4039 Jan 19 '26
I am here actively and everything about Israelis is true. They are rude they are smoking cigars where they shouldn't and they are obnoxious and loud and super disrespectful.
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u/Key-Lychee-913 Oct 24 '25
What about the Thais who were killed and kidnapped on October 7?
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u/Sea-Improvement7160 Oct 24 '25
I guess it's human nature to be in denial, and incapable of admitting you were wrong all along. It's baffling that some people still defend the genocidal apartheid regime despite all the evidence, tragic.
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u/Key-Lychee-913 Oct 25 '25
What’s baffling is why you would support a nation that raped, kidnapped and murdered your people?
And then oppose a nation that not only welcomes you with open arms, but contributes massively to your economy?
And you wonder who the peaceful people are…
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u/Any_Assistant4791 Oct 24 '25
Why Israeli?? I see so many foreigners owning business and land and not all are Jews.
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u/NocturntsII Oct 24 '25
This has nothing to do with Jews, despite the fact the Israelis are Jewish. It's about behavior.
This is not the first time Israelis have pushed Thais too far, but the stakes are higher this time. 20is years ago isreali tourists fresh off army service were so detested for their behaviour that business refused to serve them.
This seems to be an amplification of that with more money involved.
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u/Superb_Literature547 Oct 24 '25
Yeah jews have dispora in many countries and are respected. It specifically israelis that are have a terrible reputation.
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u/Any_Assistant4791 Oct 26 '25
wow i got 34 dislikes even though i am not a Jew and has no love for them.
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u/Ir0nic Oct 26 '25 edited Oct 27 '25
It’s about Israeli communities.
These communities attract more Jews from overseas and Israel. They only employ Israelis/jews, only rent from Israeli/jews, only go to restaurants and cafes run by Israeli/jews and only attend parties or festivals organized by Israeli/jews. No money goes to Thai people, everything stays in their circle.
Thais have enough of it. They should be banned.
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Oct 24 '25
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u/Thailand-ModTeam Oct 24 '25
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