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Thailand's Jewish Community, mostly centred in Bangkok, is a small but thriving and active community. The community exists in harmony with the Thai people.
While only some 200 Jews call Thailand home, the community is host to thousands of Jewish visitors each year. Most of the Jewish community is centered in Bangkok, home to most of the non-Asians, living in Thailand. It is by far the largest city in the country and boasts of a population of around seven million, 10% of the countries entire population. Nearly 95% of the Thailand’s citizens are Buddhist. The Thai people are known traditionally for their religious and cultural tolerance, allowing for the Jewish community to exist and thrive in harmony with the local population. Thailand, known as Siam until 1939, can trace its roots back to the establishment of the first Thai kingdom during the Sukhothai period in the 13th and 14th centuries. Many of the Thai people see this period as a “golden age†of Thailand. Beginning in the early part of the 16th century, the kingdom began formally receiving European visitors.
The earliest mention of a Jewish presence in Thailand was in the 1600s. Spanish missionaries made mention of a Jewish community of merchants. Abraham Navarro, of the English East India Company, was the first known Jew in Thailand, making his way there in 1683. The first permanent Jewish settlers made Thailand their home in the 1920s after fleeing Soviet Russia. The community grew with additional refugees in the 1930s with the influx of over 100 German Jewish refugees. These German Jews made their way to Thailand with the aid of the existing community. During World War II several Syrian and Lebanese Jews also made Thailand their home. An American presence was established in the 1950s.  In World War II, at the time of the Japanese invasion of South-East Asia, Thailand was under the leadership of the Philbul government. The government sided with Japan and war was declared on the United States and Britain in 1942, but the Thai ambassador in Washington refused to deliver the declaration.   In 1949, the government took a strong anti-communist stance and supported US and French foreign policy in the region. During the Vietnam War, Thailand allowed the United States to erect several army bases within its borders. The Jewish Community of Thailand (JAT) was formally established in 1964. The Vietnam War brought large numbers of Jewish U.S. servicemen to Thailand and with them rabbis through the American military chaplain services. Following the war several more American Jews also began to see Thailand as their home. The community then began to firmly plant its roots with the development of a school, a sisterhood and regularly scheduled programming to meet the growing community’s needs. The modern Jewish community is a blend of Jewry of both Sephardic and Ashkenazic backgrounds. There is also an Israeli presence. Most of Thailand’s modern Jewish community is connected with either trade or jewelry production and for the most part lives in the Bangkok area.  In addition to the permanent residents, throngs of Jewish businessmen enter Thailand with large conventions and for conferences. The community is also always prepared to play host to thousands of young Jewish backpackers.  Bangkok’s Chabad prides themselves on being a “home away from home†for many and is able to accommodate 1000 guests for meals, remarkable for a community of its size. There are currently five rabbis in Thailand operating out of 3 locations in Bangkok. All offer services on Friday and Saturday for Shabbat. The Beth Elisheva Synagogue, run by the Jewish Association, also houses the community’s mikvah and Jewish Community Center. Even Chen Synagogue provides a daily minyan and tends to serve mainly business travelers. Rabbi Yosef C. Kantor is the rabbi of both Beth Elisheva and Even Chen. A typical Shabbat, at each of these locations draws about 35 worshippers. The High Holidays bring nearly 150 worshippers to Beth Elisheva. Ohr Menachem or Chabad House holds weekday shacharis, mincha and maariv services as well as Shabbat services. Rabbi Nechamya Wilhelm oversees this location. To keep up with the travelers' tremendous needs, the community maintains its own koshering facility and has a Shochet. The community’s own chief rabbi, Rabbi Kantor, serves this role so they are able to kosher their own meat. It is estimated that nearly 100 chickens are koshered each week. Once again, remarkable given the size of the permanent community. Â
Also available via delivery or pick-up are goods from “The Kosher Placeâ€, the community’s kosher market. The “Kosher Place†receives regular shipments of a variety of goods, making everything from kosher wine to yarzeit candles to gefilte fish to techina available to the community. There are a variety of social gatherings arranged. Children also take part in Sunday school programming. The program is flexible and tailored to meet the specific needs of the community. Private bar and bat mitzvah tutoring is available upon request. There is also a Jewish cemetery, which sits alongside the Protestant cemetery but is separated by a wall. The cemetery was founded in 1997. There are Jewish persons buried in the adjacent Protestant cemetery, but the JAT has future plans to move these graves pending approval from the families of the deceased. There are also a number of Jewish POWS buried in the military cemetery on the River Kwai. The entire community is centered around the leadership of Rabbi Yosef C. Kantor who serves as Chief Rabbi of Thailand. Rabbi Kantor took on this role in 1993 and oversees not only the Jewish community of Bangkok but that of greater Thailand as well as of neighbouring Laos and Nepal. There are religious services and Chabad centers located not only in Bangkok, but in Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, and Phuket. These locations mainly serve backpackers and other holiday travelers. As residents of Thailand, the Jewish community takes part in numerous social action projects to benefit the local community.
In December 2004, Chabad of Thailand was among the first foreign aid organisations to provide relief to victims of the tsunami regardless of their religious background. The aid continues in the form of a number of rebuilding and rehabilitation projects that stress “self sufficiency and sustainable development.† Other projects included a Fun Day for some of the tsunami’s youngest victims held in Phuket. A special tsunami yizkor ceremony was attended by Her Royal Highness Princess. A video of the Phuket Fun Day was shown. The Princess was presented with a menorah representing the appreciation of the Jewish people for being welcomed as residents of Thailand. Other social action projects include prison visits to Jewish travelers that may be in need of this service. While this may sound like an unusual service for the Jewish community to need to provide, it reflects the reality of life in Bangkok and modern day problems such as drug trafficking. The mere ability to offer this type of service also reflects the flexibility of the community’s leaders to recognize the particular social backdrop that life in this city provides and the activities it sometimes invites.  Overall, as Rabbi Kantor explains, “While I don’t think of Bangkok as my choice of ‘Quality of Life’, I am very much inspired by the scope of our work and the ability to reach out to all kinds of Jews in a non-judgmental way.† Fact Box Bangkok (Issue July/August 2006) |
