BANGKOK — Thai authorities have ordered a Jewish cemetery outside Bangkok to be cleared and bodies buried there to be removed, escalating a dispute that has alarmed Thailand’s Jewish community and raised concerns that growing hostility toward Israelis may be contributing to increased scrutiny of Jewish institutions in the country.

The controversy centers on the Jewish Cemetery Thailand in Bang Khla district of Chachoengsao Province, east of Bangkok. Thai officials say the cemetery’s operating license expired in 2023 and was not renewed because the property failed to meet requirements governing the location of cemeteries.

The case developed rapidly over the past several days. Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee visited the site Monday and initially announced that three bodies believed to have been buried after the license expired would have to be removed. A fourth burial, which authorities believe took place while the cemetery still held a valid license, was initially considered legal and was placed under further review.

However, Chachoengsao provincial authorities subsequently issued a broader written administrative order requiring the cemetery’s structures to be removed and bodies buried or stored at the property to be transferred to a properly licensed private cemetery within seven days. The order was issued by Chachoengsao Governor Chatchaporn Niyom, according to an announcement from Thailand’s government public-relations department.

The latest order therefore appears to go beyond the initial directive involving only the three post-license burials.

An inspection conducted Friday, Sept. 4, found four graves at the property, according to Thai authorities. Officials determined that burials at the site violated provisions of Thailand’s Cemetery and Crematorium Act because the facility did not currently possess a valid operating permit.

The cemetery was originally granted authorization in 2021, but the license expired in 2023. When its operators sought to renew it, authorities inspected the property and concluded that it failed to comply with regulations concerning required distances between cemeteries and nearby public infrastructure, including roads and waterways.

The operator appealed the refusal to renew the license to Thailand’s interior minister, but the appeal was unsuccessful. The cemetery’s representatives subsequently brought the dispute before the Rayong Administrative Court, where the case remains pending. The litigation has not, however, restored the cemetery’s operating authorization while the case is being heard.

Bangkok Chabad shliach Rav Nechemya Wilhelm explained that the Jewish community purchased the property about five years ago because the longstanding Jewish cemetery in Bangkok was approaching capacity.

“We have had a cemetery in Bangkok for nearly 30 years,” Rav Wilhelm said. “Unfortunately, it is already almost full, so about five years ago we purchased a property outside the city that would be suitable for burial.”

Rav Wilhelm stressed that the new property had not simply been chosen and used clandestinely. It had initially been approved for cemetery use.

“We bought the property with its designation as a cemetery, and apparently the seller made sure that everything was in order at the time,” he said. “After about three years, we were informed that the property did not meet cemetery standards, and we filed an appeal, because you don’t bury people for three years. Once we received a cemetery license, it should be permanent.”

The community’s need for additional burial space has been developing for years. Chabad’s Jewish Thailand organization says the Bangkok Jewish community maintains a chevra kadisha and provides traditional Jewish burial services. An account published by the community earlier this year said its original cemetery had been operating for more than 30 years and was nearly full, prompting the purchase and consecration of the Chachoengsao property.

The dispute has become particularly sensitive because disturbing a Jewish grave is a grave matter under halacha, and exhumation is generally prohibited except under limited circumstances.

Rav Wilhelm said the community intends to obey Thai law and, should relocation ultimately be unavoidable, ensure that the process is conducted in accordance with halacha.

“We have always acted according to the law, and in this matter as well we will act according to the law,” he said. “If we are forced to remove the bodies, we will act according to the rules of halacha.”

But Rav Wilhelm also raised concerns about the timing and atmosphere surrounding the government’s action, linking the sudden scrutiny to what he described as a recent wave of negative attention directed at Israelis and Jews in Thailand.

“Unfortunately, right now, because of the wave of reports against Israelis and Jews, they are looking everywhere there is something to investigate, and that is how they reached this as well,” Rav Wilhelm said.

Thai officials, however, insist that their broader enforcement campaign is not aimed at Jews or Israelis.

On Tuesday, Suwunchwee ordered authorities to inspect approximately 1,200 cemeteries and cremation facilities throughout Thailand. Officials were instructed to determine whether the sites have valid licenses and to collect information about their operators and religious affiliations. The deputy minister specifically said the investigation was not targeting any particular nationality.

Authorities are also looking into several Jewish burial locations in Bangkok’s Charoen Krung area. Suwunchwee said officials had identified four or five locations connected to Jewish burials and would examine their legal status.

The cemetery dispute has meanwhile attracted significant attention from residents of the Chachoengsao area. Local reports indicate that some residents had previously objected to the cemetery and raised concerns about its proximity to homes, a school, agricultural operations, roads and waterways.

One aspect of the case has also generated conflicting accounts from Thai authorities themselves. On Sept. 3, the provincial governor’s office said there were no longer any bodies at the site and that one body previously buried there had been removed. A subsequent inspection, however, found four graves, prompting officials to revise the picture dramatically within days.

The dispute has now moved well beyond a routine licensing disagreement. With a seven-day removal order reportedly in effect, the Jewish community faces the prospect of having to exhume and rebury Jewish bodies while its legal challenge over the cemetery remains before Thailand’s Administrative Court.

For Thailand’s Jewish community, the situation presents both a legal battle and an extraordinarily sensitive halachic problem: how to comply with the directives of Thai authorities while preserving kavod hameis and ensuring that any unavoidable transfer of the niftarim is conducted strictly according to Jewish law.

{Matzav.com}