Did more than 30,000 Israelis settle in the district of Pai in Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province? No, that's not true: Government officials confirmed Israelis in the district are just tourists visiting.
The claim appeared in a video posted on TikTok on February 18, 2025, no longer available on the platform but archived here, which had the following caption (translated from Thai into English by Lead Stories staff):
What are they doing in Pai? Is this true or not?
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Feb 20 14:16:09 2025 UTC)
The video features screenshots of news headlines, including some that read: "Thai Pai residents suffer. 30,000 Israelis permanently live here" and "Taking over Pai. Jews invade Thailand."
The narrator opened the video by saying he heard that there are more than 30,000 Israelis in Pai, with about 3,000 permanently living there and the rest going in and out of the country - more than the 21,000 local Pai residents. The post also says the Israelis came amid a ceasefire with Hamas and that there is now infrastructure supporting them as residents, such as a synagogue and haircut spots reserved only for Jewish people.
Authorities have refuted the claim: Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said at a news conference (archived here) on February 18, 2025, that the government looked into it and verified that the claim was not true. She added that the Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul would visit the district in person the following week for inspections.
Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, along with Orna Sagiv, the Israeli ambassador to Thailand, inspected the district on February 26, 2025, according to the Government Public Relations Department (archived here). The deputy prime minister said he was personally briefed by the governor, who confirmed that many claims about the Israelis' presence there were exaggerated, noting there hadn't been any indication of a security threat to local Thai residents or any indication that they would stay in the district permanently.
Chatchai Bangchuad, secretary-general of the National Security Council, told The Standard on February 19, 2025, (archived here), that there are about 3,000-4,000 Israeli tourists in the district each month, but it is a normal situation that poses no threat.
Mae Hong Son Governor Ekwit Meepian said on National Broadcasting Services of Thailand on February 18, 2025 (archived here), that the 30,000 figure, claimed in the TikTok, is the total number of tourists that have been to the Pai district in 2024, noting that not all of them were Israelis.
Mae Hong Son Public Relations Office wrote in a Facebook post on January 22, 2025 (archived here), that there were 221,776 foreign tourists in Mae Hong Son, the province where Pai is located, in 2024, with 31,735 of them being from Israel, the second largest presence after 39,390 tourists from the United Kingdom.
On top of that, Mae Hong Son Tourist Police said on its Facebook page on February 18, 2025 (archived here), the Chabad House in the district (archived here), a physical space that serves the Jewish community and welcomes Israeli tourists as well, is only used as a place for worship on Fridays and Saturdays, and has a capacity of about 200 people. In the same post, the local tourist police also said there hasn't been any action taken by these individuals that would indicate their intention to settle in the area long-term.
Additionally, one of the pictures shown in the TikTok video (see screenshot below) implying to show a recent gathering of Israelis in Thailand is an old picture that was taken and published by Mae Hon Son Immigration on October 2, 2024, at an event celebrating the Jewish New Year (archived here).
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Feb 20 14:18:23 2025 UTC)
An anti-Israelis sentiment in the area likely stemmed from an incident in February 2025, in which four Israelis were deported and blacklisted after causing a disturbance at Pai Hospital on February 6, 2025, according to the Thai Immigration Bureau (archived here). The agency said the four individuals attempted trespassing into the hospital's restricted area. They were fined 3,000 Baht each and barred from future entry for "colluding to cause trouble to others, such as bullying, intimidation, threatening, or acting in a way that causes humiliation."
"It's a part of what happens when there are a lot of tourists, there can be some behavior that may not be appropriate," Governor Ekwit Meepian said, "but we must strictly enforce the law."
The Embassy of Israel in Thailand released a statement on its Facebook page on February 27, 2025 (archived here). The ambassador reaffirmed the country's "ongoing efforts to provide guidance to Israeli travelers regarding Thai customs, traditions, and legal regulations." Ambassador Orna Sagiv wrote (archived here): "Thailand and Israel share a strong bond, and I deeply appreciate the warm hospitality extended to the Israeli travelers. We are dedicated to building mutual understanding and strengthening respectful connections between our communities."
