Israel–Thailand Relations

Bilateral ties operate through formal diplomatic channels, recurring contacts between officials, economic cooperation, tourism, and labor migration. The countries maintain embassies in each other’s capitals, with Israel’s embassy in Bangkok dating to 1958 and the Royal Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv to 1996.[3][8] A Washington Institute analysis of Southeast Asian reactions to the October 7 attacks identified Thailand, Cambodia, and Singapore as countries with diplomatic relations with Israel and reported that all three condemned the “terror attacks” and the “tragic escalation.”[9]

On February 3, 2026, Thailand’s ambassador, Boonyarit Vichienpuntu, presented his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Their discussion addressed bilateral trade of more than US$1 billion annually, products in technology, agriculture, and defense, and potential cooperation in climate change, fisheries, water management, innovation, and tourism.[10] In a 2025 interview, the ambassador described the relationship as more than seven decades old and identified trade and investment, science and technology, innovation, and green tourism as priorities.[11]

Not every proposed economic arrangement has produced an agreement. Israeli and Thai officials began discussing a possible free-trade agreement in December 1996 and agreed to establish a joint economic committee and encourage business delegations, but the report described negotiations and plans rather than a signed agreement.[12] The U.S. State Department’s 2024 investment-climate statement listed Thailand among the countries with which Israel had a bilateral investment treaty in force, but not among Israel’s free-trade-agreement partners.[13]

Thailand recognized Israel on September 26, 1950, while formal diplomatic relations were established on June 23, 1954; these were distinct milestones.[1][2] A 1987 historical survey likewise dates recognition to 1950 and consular relations to 1954. It reports that Israel’s Bangkok consulate was elevated to embassy status in 1958, with Thailand’s ambassador to Italy also accredited to Israel at that time.[14] Thailand opened its embassy in Tel Aviv in 1996.[8]

A Library of Congress study published in 1990 described Israel’s ties with Thailand as friendly. It placed Thailand among the Asian and Pacific countries with which Israel maintained friendly relations, while observing that many Asian states had not established full diplomatic relations with Israel. The study connected that broader regional pattern to some states’ large Muslim populations and their ties to Arab states and the Palestine Liberation Organization through the Non-Aligned Movement.[15]

A meeting record from 1969 captures one contemporary comparison between the countries. Thai Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn described Israel and Thailand as small countries facing outside pressure, saying that a small country could resist such pressure only with outside help. U.S. President Richard Nixon agreed with the comparison.[16] In the mid-1980s, a survey characterized Thailand as “somewhat supportive” of Israel at the United Nations, although it did not identify particular votes or explain how the characterization was measured.[14]

Cooperation grew across several fields. The 1987 survey listed agreements in trade, agriculture, nuclear energy, aviation, and defense. It also reported that hundreds of Thai students and technicians had studied at Israeli universities and kibbutzim and that Israeli technicians had assisted Thai agriculture and social services.[14] Later accounts describe education, agriculture, public health, and economic activity as continuing areas of cooperation. Thai visitors to Israel included Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn; Israeli visitors to Thailand included IDF chief of staff Yitzhak Rabin and Abba Eban.[2]

Agriculture became a particularly visible sphere of bilateral cooperation. A report quoting an Israeli official described the Hubkapong Royal Project, initiated by King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1964, as the first joint Thai-Israeli agricultural project and said Israel was among the first foreign governments invited to participate.[17] MASHAV, Israel’s international cooperation agency, began working in Thailand in the mid-1960s. A later account said more than 2,000 Thai professionals had taken courses in Israel, mainly in agriculture and education, while experts and trainees also participated in MASHAV courses in Thailand. It added that dozens of Thai schools had based curricula on Israeli experience and know-how.[2]

The countries marked the seventieth anniversary of diplomatic relations at Ben Shemen Forest in March 2024. The Thai ambassador and Israeli officials attended, and participants planted 70 trees. The Thai pavilion at the forest had been presented as a gift from the Thai people to Israel, marking both the fiftieth anniversary of Israeli independence and the fiftieth year of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s reign.[18]

Agricultural cooperation links training and technology with the movement of Thai workers to Israel. Thai workers make up a substantial part of Israel’s agricultural workforce, and agricultural-college training programs in Israel began in 1997 as a joint project under the patronage of Thailand’s Ministry of Education.[2] A joint Israeli-Thai agro-technology experimental farm was established at Khon Kaen University. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn inaugurated it in January 2004; its work focused on irrigation for high-value crops.[2]

The 2010 intergovernmental agreement underlying the Thailand-Israel Cooperation project sought to prevent illegal recruitment fees for Thai agricultural workers, and its terms took effect in 2012. An Israeli government report said approximately 27,000 Thai agricultural workers had arrived through the project by the end of 2017, of whom 21,515 remained in Israel. It reported that the arrangements reduced arrival costs from tens of thousands of dollars to several hundred dollars paid legally.[19]

The recruitment system included government coordination and a hotline established in July 2012 by the Center for International Migration and Integration in cooperation with Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority. Workers could contact it in their native languages, and inquiries and complaints were forwarded to relevant government units. The Israeli report said Thai agricultural workers had collectively saved nearly US$190.5 million through the bilateral arrangements.[19] A 2015 U.S. State Department report also said recruitment was coordinated through government offices, reducing fees, and that workers received information about labor rights and translated copies of their contracts before arrival.[20]

On July 13, 2020, the Israeli and Thai governments signed a new agreement in Jerusalem to recruit 25,000 Thai workers for agricultural employment in Israel. The Israeli Embassy described it as following the December 2010 arrangement, which established a legal and transparent recruitment procedure intended to prevent practices such as high charges by private recruitment companies. It also described Thai workers as an important component of Israel’s agricultural economy and said workers could take agricultural knowledge gained in Israel back to Thailand.[21]

Counts of Thai workers in Israel vary by date and category. A 2018 American Jewish Committee article reported nearly 22,000 Thai migrant workers in Israel.[4] An Israeli government report counted 29,120 Thai agricultural workers residing in Israel with valid visas under bilateral agreements in 2024; the figure excluded some other groups, including workers who had arrived before the agreements were implemented.[22] A 2025 report estimated about 41,000 Thai workers across several sectors, including approximately 38,000 in agriculture and 1,500 in construction, with smaller numbers in industry and restaurant work. It said about 10,000 Thai agricultural workers had left after the war began, most had returned during 2024, and roughly another 10,000 had arrived.[23]

The labor arrangements have not eliminated reported abuse. The 2015 State Department report cited a 2014 Human Rights Watch investigation covering 1,010 groups of Thai workers in farming communities. It reported that employers in all but one community housed workers in makeshift and inadequate accommodation and that workers in all the communities faced illegally low wages and excessive hours. The State Department said the violations and limited penalties indicated inadequate enforcement of labor laws despite the bilateral agreement.[20]

The State Department’s 2024 trafficking report described some Thai men and women in Israel’s agricultural sector as subjected to forced-labor conditions. The conditions listed included long hours, no breaks or rest days, withheld passports, poor living conditions, and difficulty changing employers because of work-permit limitations.[24] The report also said Israel experienced acute labor shortages after the October 7 attack, especially in construction and agriculture. It attributed the shortages to the cancellation of entry permits for Palestinian workers and the departure of Thai agricultural workers and described short-term measures to increase recruitment outside bilateral agreements.[24]

The labor relationship was disrupted by the October 7, 2023 attacks and the subsequent war. Before the attacks, around 30,000 Thai workers were reported to be in Israel. By October 31, Thailand’s ambassador told Ynet that 31 Thai citizens had been killed and 20 were missing; about 8,000 workers had registered a wish to leave and 7,260 had departed, mostly from agricultural jobs in southern Israel. Thailand arranged special evacuation flights, including commercial and military aircraft, while leaving departure voluntary. Israeli officials also briefed Thai labor officials on compensation for families of workers killed or abducted.[6]

Figures on deaths and abductions reported at different dates do not match exactly. In August 2024, Maariv cited then-current Thai government figures of 39 Thai citizens killed and 32 abducted, with six believed still held at that time.[7] These numbers are dated reports rather than a single reconciled count. Thai workers began returning in May 2024, while Thai authorities temporarily delayed the arrival of thousands amid concern about a possible Iranian and Hezbollah attack on Israel. The governments’ agreements were intended to bring more than 10,000 Thai workers to Israel by the end of 2024.[7]

A June 2024 Ynet report said Israel and Thailand were discussing an agreement to bring Thai workers into construction. It reported 35,009 foreign agricultural workers in Israel, compared with 30,259 on October 5, 2023, and said most were Thai.[25] In 2025, Maariv reported that an Israeli delegation had signed a memorandum of understanding with Thai authorities concerning the employment conditions of Thai workers in Israel.[23]

Trade and business collaboration have grown alongside agricultural and diplomatic ties. A 1987 survey reported bilateral trade of US$31 million in 1984 and described Thailand as Israel’s fourth-largest trading partner in Asia at the time.[14] A 2013 report put annual trade at about US$1.3 billion and described the balance as nearly even. It listed Israeli exports including diamonds and gemstones, chemicals, communications and medical equipment, machinery, optics, defense goods, and water and agricultural technologies. Thai exports to Israel included diamonds and gemstones, machinery and electrical equipment, vehicles, plastics and rubber, food, plants, and textiles.[26]

A 2018 American Jewish Committee article reported bilateral trade of US$1 billion annually as of 2016.[4] In 2026, a report on discussions between President Herzog and Thailand’s ambassador again described annual bilateral trade as more than US$1 billion, while identifying technology, agriculture, and defense equipment among key products and cars and processed foods among Thailand’s main exports to Israel.[10]

An Israeli Economic and Trade Mission at the embassy in Thailand promotes business collaboration between organizations in both countries. Its stated work includes presenting Israeli technologies to Thai companies, arranging Israeli startup delegations to Thailand, hosting Thai delegations in Israel, and preparing technology-scouting lists for companies.[27] A 2020 report said Thai companies were increasingly visiting Israel to learn about innovation and invest in venture-capital funds and startups. It reported that all three of Thailand’s largest banks had invested in Israeli venture-capital funds, with two also investing directly in startups. The mission head said the Israeli mission had helped close the second-highest number of deals among Israel’s missions in 2019.[28]

Examples of commercial links include Siam Cement Group’s investments in two Israeli startups and Thai Union’s investment in Flying Spark, which enabled the Israeli company to advance insect-growing and processing capabilities in Thailand. The same report identified Thailand’s Samitivej Hospitals as a major client of Israeli telehealth company Tyto Care.[28] Other listed areas of collaboration include food technology, aquaculture biotechnology, digital finance, and livestock monitoring.[29]

Several projects have applied Israeli technology in Thailand. In 2019, Bangkok’s Metropolitan Waterworks Authority adopted Israeli satellite-based technology to detect water leaks. A hospital partnership involved online medical consultations and a remote-examination device, and in 2020 Thailand’s SCG partnered with Israeli companies on energy-efficiency solutions.[29] In 2024, Israeli cultivated-meat company Aleph Farms, Thai bio-based-products manufacturer BBGI, and synthetic-biology company Fermbox Bio formed a partnership to develop Thailand’s first production plant for cellular-agriculture applications, with stated aims of lowering costs and enabling faster scaling.[29]

Defense procurement is another strand of cooperation. The 1987 survey listed defense among the areas covered by bilateral cooperation agreements.[14] In 2022, the Royal Thai Navy agreed to buy seven drones from Israel.[2] In October 2026, Globes reported that Thailand had procured the Arbel drone-interception system from Israel Weapon Industries. Thailand’s Ministry of Defense reportedly chose to integrate the system into existing rifles, and IWI was discussing possible further orders with Thai military bodies. The report also said Thailand operates Elbit Hermes-series unmanned aerial vehicles and the Barak MX air-defense system, whose reported sale to Bangkok was valued at 3.44 billion baht, or about US$108 million.[30]

Training and technical assistance have connected the countries’ agricultural sectors for decades. MASHAV’s work in Thailand began in the mid-1960s, and its courses have involved Thai professionals in agriculture and education as well as trainees in Thailand.[2] A report quoting an Israeli official said more than 1,000 Thai citizens had participated in MASHAV courses covering water management, agriculture, education, public health, rural and urban development, technology, and innovation.[17] The figures come from different accounts and periods and should not be treated as a single cumulative total.

The Khon Kaen University experimental farm, inaugurated by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in January 2004, focused on irrigation for high-value crops.[2] The earlier Hubkapong Royal Project was described as a joint agricultural initiative dating to 1964.[17] Israeli technicians were also reported to have assisted the development of Thai agriculture and social services, while Thai students and technicians studied at Israeli universities and kibbutzim.[14]

Cooperation has extended beyond agricultural production to public health, education, and emergency support. After severe flooding in Thailand in November 2011, MASHAV and Israel’s national water company Mekorot sent specialists to help drain floodwater from Bangkok. The team was dispatched following an official request and was to work with local authorities.[31] A later Israeli-Thai hospital partnership included online medical consultations and remote-examination technology.[29]

A Jerusalem Post report in 2025 described an agritech collaboration between MASHAV and Thailand’s International Cooperation Agency. It also reported that 73 Thai students had arrived to study at Kinneret Academic College, combining classroom instruction with hands-on agricultural work on Israeli farms. Thailand had suspended its agricultural student program following the October 7, 2023 attacks, and the arrivals represented a subsequent renewal of training links.[32]

Israeli assistance was also reported after the March 2025 earthquake affecting Myanmar and Thailand. Israel’s Foreign and Defense ministries sent a 21-person team of experts to support search-and-rescue operations in Thailand. The team was led by Col. (Res.) Yossi Pinto, commander of the IDF’s reserve national search-and-rescue unit.[2]

Tourism and personal connections are among the relationship’s most visible features. Thailand is a major destination for Israeli tourists, and the countries’ links include Israeli businesses in Bangkok and connections between people who have studied or trained in Israel.[3] A Thai-Israel Friendship Group brings together people with such experience, including non-Jewish participants, while Thailand’s Jewish community helps host Jewish visitors, including Israelis.[3]

A 2018 account described Thailand as a popular post-military-service destination for young Israelis and reported seven weekly nonstop El Al flights to Bangkok at that time.[4] In December 2016, Israel and Thailand signed an open-skies agreement allowing airlines from each country to operate up to 28 scheduled weekly flights without restrictions on capacity or aircraft type. At the time, El Al was the only airline operating direct flights and ran eight weekly flights. Israel Airports Authority figures cited in the report counted 166,000 Israelis flying directly to Thailand from January through October 2016.[33]

Tourism promotion has continued to feature in official discussions. In July 2026, Thailand’s Tourism Authority and Israel’s ambassador discussed encouraging tourism and expanding direct flights to destinations beyond existing El Al and Arkia services to Bangkok and Phuket. Figures presented at the meeting showed 181,872 Israeli visitors to Thailand since the start of 2026, with an estimate of 442,000 arrivals by year’s end.[34] A separate 2026 report said more than 277,000 Israelis visited during the first eight months of the year, around 7% more than in the same period a year earlier. It also reported that Israeli visitors generated about US$1.2 billion of Thailand’s approximately US$48 billion in tourism revenue in the previous year.[35]

Thai tourism promotion has also included cultural and community-facing initiatives. In a 2025 interview, Thailand’s ambassador said the country’s tourism authority had cooperated with an Israeli party-event organizer to promote events on Koh Phangan. The article also reported Thai Tourism Authority support for Tel Aviv Pride events and a visit to Thailand by an Israeli LGBTQ influencer delegation exploring possible cooperation in the “pink economy.”[11]

A distinctive symbol of the relationship is a group of elephants gifted by Thailand to Israel in 1994 following a personal request by then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. During a 2026 visit to Jerusalem’s Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, Thailand’s ambassador described the elephants as symbols of bilateral relations and people-to-people ties. The report named the four original female elephants as Kwanjai, Oraphan, Panyanucha, and Sunisa and said their keepers spoke to them in Thai.[36]

People-to-people ties also include the large Thai community living and working in Israel. In June 2026, Thailand’s ambassador put the number at about 65,000. The same report described Thailand as the most visited destination for Israeli travelers according to a PassportCard index from late 2025 and pointed to Israeli irrigation technology used in Thailand as another expression of the relationship.[36] These figures are dated snapshots and may count different categories from specific agricultural-worker totals.

On December 28, 1972, members of the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September stormed the Israeli embassy in Bangkok and took six embassy employees hostage.[5] One account identifies four captors as members of Black September, while another discusses the takeover as an example of a terrorist barricade-hostage incident.[37][2]

The crisis ended through negotiations involving Thai officials and the Egyptian ambassador. After 19 hours, the terrorists released the hostages and abandoned their other demands in exchange for safe passage out of Thailand; one account says they were flown to Egypt.[37][2] The negotiated outcome is sometimes known as the “Bangkok Solution.”[37] The episode stands out as a terrorist attack on Israel’s diplomatic mission that ended through a negotiated release.

Thai agricultural workers were among those attacked during the October 7, 2023 assault on Israel. A United Nations Commission of Inquiry report stated that 19 Thai nationals working on Kibbutz Nir Oz’s agricultural team were living there that day; 11 were killed and five abducted. It reported that the workers were attacked in their living quarters and that most of those killed were shot while trying to hide. As of May 2024, two Thai nationals were among the Nir Oz abductees who had been released.[38]

Across Israel, reports give different casualty and abduction figures at different dates. A Jewish Virtual Library account said 31 Thai workers were abducted to Gaza and that dozens were killed.[2] Ynet reported 31 Thai citizens killed and 20 missing as of October 31, 2023, while a later Maariv report cited Thai government figures of 39 killed and 32 abducted as of August 2024.[6][7] A subsequent Ynet report stated that 49 Thai workers were killed.[39] The available sources do not provide a basis for reconciling these reports into one definitive total.

During the November 2023 pause in fighting, Hamas released 23 Thai nationals under a separate arrangement with Bangkok, alongside releases of Israeli hostages and other foreign nationals. The pause was extended before ending on December 1.[40][2] The arrangement was reported as involving Iranian mediation.[2] On January 30, 2025, five more Thai hostages were released after 482 days in captivity, alongside Israeli hostages. Ynet reported that their release followed an arrangement involving the Thai government, Hamas, and Iran.[39]

Thailand’s ambassador to Israel described the January 30 release as “one of the happiest days” of her life and thanked Israel for its efforts to secure the hostages’ release. At that point, another Thai citizen, Nattapong Pinta, was still believed to be held in Gaza.[41] A separate report said the ambassador thanked the Israeli side for caring for the hostages and that President Isaac Herzog described the Thai workers as members of the communities where they worked.[39]

The hostage crisis also prompted official attention to future employment conditions. In February 2025, Maariv reported that an Israeli Population and Immigration Authority delegation met senior Thai officials in Bangkok and signed a memorandum of understanding concerning employment conditions for Thai workers coming to Israel.[23]

Labor conditions remain a significant concern within an otherwise broad relationship. The 2015 U.S. State Department report said Israel’s migrant-worker hotline received 1,372 complaints from agricultural and construction workers in 2014 and that enforcement bodies investigated them.[20] Alongside recruitment reforms and worker protections, its account of low wages, excessive hours, and inadequate accommodation among Thai agricultural workers indicated continuing gaps between formal rules and reported conditions in farming communities.[20]

The 2024 trafficking report’s account of forced-labor conditions—including withheld passports, restricted rest, poor accommodation, and limited ability to change employers—raised further concerns about worker vulnerability.[24] The impact of the October 7 attack and wartime labor shortages also led to changes in recruitment practices, including short-term efforts to recruit outside bilateral arrangements.[24]

Public discourse about Thai workers has also included allegations about food practices. A 2024 peer-reviewed article by Nir Avieli, based on ethnographic research in Israel’s rural periphery and critical media analysis, examined claims that Thai workers hunted and ate Israeli pet dogs. Avieli said the accusations lacked material support and argued that the “dog eating myth” was formulated to place Thai workers in a subordinate position and justify economic exploitation.[42] Those conclusions are the scholar’s interpretation rather than an independently established account of every allegation.

The scale of tourism has at times prompted public discussion about visitors’ conduct and local rules. In September 2026, Thailand’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister said that welcoming tourists did not mean visitors could disregard Thai culture or ways of life and called for stronger Israeli action. Israel’s ambassador acknowledged concerns about the conduct of some Israelis and proposed a “Dos and don’ts” document for travelers.[43]

A Ynet report on a protest outside Israel’s embassy in Bangkok said demonstrators criticized the conduct of some Israeli tourists and alleged that Israelis used Thai nominees to operate businesses or hold property and land in places including Koh Phangan and Phuket. The article presented these as protest claims or suspicions, not established findings. Israel’s deputy ambassador said the embassy took complaints seriously, cooperated with Thai authorities, and had published a code of conduct asking Israeli visitors to respect Thai law and culture.[35]

The report also said Thailand’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister warned that misconduct by Israeli nationals could harm bilateral relations while emphasizing that enforcement would apply to foreign nationals of all nationalities.[35] The episode illustrates how a large tourism connection can bring local concerns into diplomatic discussions, but the available reporting does not establish the protesters’ business or property allegations as fact.