BANGKOK, Thailand – A multi-agency team swooped on a restaurant in Krabi’s Ao Nang on 29 September 2026, examining suspected nominee ownership, undeclared imports and religious gatherings held on the premises.

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Krabi Governor Angkura Silathewakul and Provincial Police commander Police Major General Sukkasem Nakhonwilai led the inspection of the four-storey commercial building in Mueang Krabi district, leased by a company registered entirely under Thai names and run as a restaurant catering mainly to foreign tourists.

Officers found seven Thai staff, including the manager, along with food and beverages imported from Israel — largely routed through a Chabad centre in Bangkok — without proper customs documents, and seized the goods as evidence. Inspectors also discovered a room adapted for Jewish religious ceremonies linked to a Chabad, holding about 20 to 25 people. Staff said groups of Israeli nationals gathered there regularly on Fridays and Saturdays for meals and rites led by an Israeli man named Simon, who lives in Krabi town. Donation signs were displayed around the restaurant, while the upper floors held only small storage rooms with no residents.

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Governor Angkura said the inspection formed part of efforts to tackle possible nominee businesses and foreign violations of Thai law, noting that Jewish religious activity is permitted as long as it does not affect national security or public order. Police are also scrutinising a 600,000-baht transfer from the restaurant manager to a foreign man identified as Sogrev, keeping it as evidence while they probe the business’s ownership structure, import practices and related financial transactions. The inquiry remains at the evidence-gathering and preliminary fact-finding stage.

-Thailand News (TN)