Thailand revokes naturalised head rabbi’s citizenship over repeated US passport use

Thailand’s government said on Thursday it had revoked the citizenship of a prominent head rabbi who was a naturalised Thai, as the country tightens enforcement of its immigration laws.

Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor’s Thai citizenship was stripped over his repeated use of his US passport after naturalisation in 2013, according to an interior ministry statement.

The order was signed by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who is also interior minister.

Thai law prohibits naturalised citizens from continuing to use their former nationality, although it is not always enforced.

Tourism is a major source of income for Thailand, but the behaviour and businesses of foreigners living in the Southeast Asian country have come under growing scrutiny.

Foreign nationals have been accused of using Thai proxies to circumvent restrictions on non-Thais owning land and businesses.

Kantor arrived in Thailand in 1993, according to the Jewish Association of Thailand.

After naturalisation, he continued to use his US passport up to 16 times to travel to Australia, the interior ministry said.

“Any illegal act, whatever it involves, must be dealt with firmly,” Anutin told reporters on Thursday when asked about the order.

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Anutin, who won February’s elections on a nationalist platform, revoked Kantor’s citizenship under the 1965 Nationality Act.

The move came after Thai authorities earlier this month raided three Jewish organisations in Bangkok, including Chabad House, where Kantor works.

Police said at the time that Chabad Foundation Bangkok was found to be employing three Myanmar workers without work permits.

Police also seized evidence such as tax filings and land purchase and building construction records from Gan Chabad, a Jewish school.

Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish movement headquartered in New York with venues around the world.

Rabbi Nehemya Wilhelm, of the Chabad House in Bangkok, said on Thursday that the organisation legally employed about 40 workers and paid a fine for three from Myanmar whose documents had been in the midst of processing.

He said Kantor has lived in Thailand for more than 30 years and used his US passport to visit the United States and Australia.

“Thailand is his home,” said the rabbi, who also holds Thai citizenship. “It’s really painful to get such a decision just because he has another citizenship.”

“We feel the tension,” Wilhelm added, but “Thailand welcomes Jewish people” and “we don’t feel under threat”.

Kantor, who Wilhelm said was visiting New York, could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.