Thais take to streets in rare protest against Israel: ‘not for sale’

The protest follows months of complaints about illegal landholding, cultural disrespect and proliferation of Israeli religious houses

SCMP Reporter

Published: 4:31pm, 10 Sep 2026 – Updated: 4:39pm, 10 Sep 2026

Hundreds of Thais, led by a veteran political activist, rallied outside the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok on Thursday in a rare public protest against a group of foreign nationals.

The protest follows months of complaints about illegal landholding, disrespect towards local culture and proliferation of religious houses for Israelis, echoing those made by some locals in the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Israelis have been flocking to Thailand since the war on Gaza that followed the October 7 Hamas assault on their country. Many are service personnel from the Israel Defence Forces seeking respite from a war that has killed over 70,000 Palestinians and left around 2 million more stranded on the strip without food and water.

In a country with hair-trigger sensitivities over sovereignty, allegations that swathes of prime Thai land have been sold illegally to Israelis have raised uproar. Disputes between Thais and Israelis – mainly on the islands of Phangan and Samui and the mountain retreat of Pai – over non-payment of bills, public misbehaviour and pro-Palestine flags at many Thai businesses have gone viral, adding to the tensions.

Thursday’s protest – which saw an angry crowd waving a sea of Thai tricolours and banners saying “Save Thailand”, “Thailand Is Not For Sale” and “This is Not The Promised Land”, alongside some plainly antisemitic placards – was led by firebrand Sondhi Limthongkul.

The controversial 78-year-old former media mogul and conservative “Yellow Shirt” hardliner, who was at the crux of Thailand’s long and bloody years of street politics, can still draw a large crowd.

Thailand has a long-standing tradition of “extending warm hospitality to foreign visitors”, he said. “However, let it be clearly understood by the embassy and the government of Israel that generosity must never be mistaken for weakness.”

Accusing Israelis of wanting to “occupy our country, building your own community”, he added: “Hospitality does not equate to submission to exploitation, and courtesy is not an open licence for anyone to act with impunity on our sovereign soil.”

“Widespread grievances” committed by Israeli residents and tourists “include violations of domestic law, public disturbance, disrespect towards local traditions and culture as well as recurring payment default and service-related fraud”, he added.

“The patience of the Thai people has reached a limit.”

Sondhi’s return to frontline protest is a significant development in a country where street politics and hyper-nationalism have helped topple governments, shape policy pivots and fanned conflict with neighbours over the years.

He gave a letter to the embassy and called on the Thai government to take “concrete actions” to root out illegal businesses and end what he described as a culture of “disdain towards their [Thai] hosts”.

His campaign, called “Take Thailand Back”, would continue with another protest against alleged “grey” businesses in the country, he said.

Other leading nationalist figures joined the rally, uniting in a show of patriotism that pointed to the widening rancour.

‘Not looking to invade’

Ahead of the protest, Israel’s ambassador to Thailand Alona Fisher-Kamm tried to assuage anger by addressing what she said was misinformation driving some of the viral episodes that have enraged Thais.

A small minority of Israeli visitors had behaved badly, she acknowledged, but insisted there was no attempt at “colonisation”, suggesting outside instigators were brewing up hostility against Israeli nationals.

“The vast majority of Israeli tourists are good tourists, they don’t provoke and there is no conflict and they are well welcomed by Thais,” she told PPTV on September 3. “We see cases of misunderstanding or of Israelis who might be badly behaved because they don’t understand the culture, or do not know the law as well.”

She said Israelis were briefed on dos and don’ts before arrival in Thailand and inside the country, insisting the embassy was “not going to protect anyone” found to have transgressed Thai laws.

The core allegation among many of Thursday’s protesters is that Israeli nationals used nominee relationships to secure Thai-only land. That loophole, now closing fast after a string of scandals, has seen foreign nationals buy majority shares in land restricted to Thais by paying locals to be silent partners.

Across the southern islands of Samui, Phangan and Phuket, Thais complain that the speed and scale of this action are freezing them out of their own territory.

One protester, who asked to remain anonymous, said “corrupt Thais had sold off the country, but that doesn’t mean we have to take the insult of Israelis who treat us like we are dirt”.

The Israeli ambassador, however, refuted the idea of nominee holdings as “an Israeli phenomenon”.

“Singling out Israelis or saying that the vast majority of cases are Israelis that have nominees or have any kind of illegal business, I think it is misleading,” Fisher-Kamm said. “Everything in Thailand is Thai territory, it has nothing to do with Israeli territory, Israelis are not looking to invade Thai territories.”

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow met Fisher-Kamm for what he described as “frank” discussions and warned that ties between the countries could become strained if more flashpoints between Thais and Israelis occurred.

“Visitors must understand and respect Thai culture and traditions,” he told reporters after the meeting. But he also urged the public not to hold the actions of the few against all Israelis.

There were around 31,000 Israeli nationals in Thailand as of March, the Immigration Bureau said. A total of 420,202 Israelis visited the country last year, most of whom left after a short stay, it added.

Thai Languange Text:

“สนธิ” นำมวลชนยื่นหนังสือสถานทูตอิสราเอล ตรวจสอบบุคคลที่ทำผิดในไทย | Thai PBS News ข่าวไทยพีบีเอส

“สนธิ” นำมวลชนยื่นหนังสือสถานทูตอิสราเอล ตรวจสอบบุคคลที่ทำผิดในไทย

การเมือง10 ก.ย. 69

05:05

จำนวนผู้ชม1,454

วันนี้ (10 ก.ย.2569) นายสนธิ ลิ้มทองกุล อดีตแกนนำกลุ่มพันธมิตรประชาชนเพื่อประชาธิปไตย นำมวลชนจำนวนหนึ่งเคลื่อนขบวนไปยังหน้าสถานทูตอิสราเอลประจำประเทศไทย เพื่อยื่นจดหมายเปิดผนึกถึงเอกอัครราชทูตอิสราเอล ประจำประเทศไทย และทำกิจกรรมเรียกร้องให้ เอกอัครราชทูตอิสราเอล กำชับชาวอิสราเอลที่เดินทางเข้ามาในประเทศไทย หลังมีชาวอิสราเอลบางกลุ่ม มีพฤติกรรมไม่เหมาะสม ไม่เคารพต่อผู้คนและกฎหมายเมืองไทย โดยเป็นการเคลื่อนไหว ภายใต้หัวข้อ “เอาประเทศไทยของเราคืนมา”

นายพิชิต ไชยมงคล แกนนำเครือข่ายนักศึกษาประชาชน ปฏิรูปประเทศไทย (คปท.) เปิดเผยว่า นี่เป็นแสดงพลังของประชาชนไทย เพื่อสื่อสารข้อเรียกร้องไปยังสถานทูตอิสราเอล

กิจกรรมการเคลื่อนไหว ยังมี นายนิติธร ล้ำเหลือ อดีตแกนนำพันธมิตร นายปานเทพ พัวพงษ์พันธ์ ประธานมูลนิธิยามเฝ้าแผ่นดิน ร่วมทำกิจกรรม สลับกันขึ้นเวทีกล่าวปราศรัยเรียกร้อง ให้รัฐบาลกำกับดูแลไปจนถึงตรวจสอบการทำธุรกิจต้องสงสัยของชาวอิสราเอลอย่างเข้มงวด โดยเฉพาะการกว้านซื้อที่ดิน โดยใช้คนไทยเป็นนอมินีดำเนินการ