UPDATE: Phuket orders suspension of Chabad House Patong building use and demolition of unauthorised additions

Patong Municipality has ordered use of the Chabad House Patong building suspended and unauthorised additions demolished, according to a 22 September 2026 report by Kom Chad Luek citing Phuket Governor Chotinarin Kerdsom. The report said the order covered a tent extension on the rooftop, described as the sixth floor, which was being demolished, and a first-floor parking area converted into a restaurant and cafe. The restaurant and cafe were ordered closed and their use suspended immediately.

Kittisak Morasilp, director of Patong Municipality’s engineering office, said the building had received construction permission in 2015 as a six-storey restaurant and club. Kom Chad Luek reported that it had not been approved for use as a religious site.

The owner has 30 days from receiving the order to appeal. If the deadline passes without an appeal or demolition, Patong Municipality said it would file a criminal complaint and pursue court action under building-control law.

The municipal action is a later enforcement step in the seven-day provincial review ordered after Phuket Governor Chotinarin Kerdsom led an on-site inspection of Chabad House in Patong on 15 September. By 20 September, the review had reached its scheduled mark, but the wider investigation remained ongoing. The latest building-control report did not announce a final overall finding on the wider review.

Nation Thailand reported on 18 September that preliminary inspections under the Building Control Act B.E. 2522 (1979) found that some construction and alterations at Chabad House Patong did not conform to approved plans. The building had permission for six storeys, while inspectors identified alterations in some areas, particularly on the first and fifth floors.

At that preliminary stage, authorities ordered construction to stop, use of areas that departed from the approved plans to be suspended, and the affected sections to be corrected or demolished as applicable. Areas that complied with the approved plans and had the necessary permissions could continue operating lawfully, according to the report.

The later municipal account described the unauthorised work differently, referring to the rooftop or sixth-floor tent extension and the first-floor conversion of parking space into a restaurant and cafe. The floor references are therefore presented as separate attributed accounts rather than as identical floor-by-floor findings. The municipal suspension and demolition order provides the later enforcement status for the work it identified.

Inspectors also recorded different uses across the building. Nation Thailand reported areas resembling a coffee shop, spaces for gatherings and preparing items for religious activities, a worship room with separate areas for men and women, a space for preparing ceremonial equipment, and an area resembling a meeting room for lectures.

On 18 September, The Phuket Express reported that Kerdsom had disclosed preliminary findings identifying two related legal entities linked to Chabad House Patong. Their combined reported assets were approximately B261.58 million. Preliminary business checks identified the companies as belonging to the same business group, with offices in Choeng Thale, Thalang, and four additional branches in Phuket, bringing the reported total to six locations.

The provincial administration is examining the full scope of the companies’ related activities, including real estate operations, tour businesses and other commercial ventures. Officials are also reviewing company registrations, operating licences and compliance with relevant regulations in response to complaints and concerns about the site.

Preliminary information reported for the two associated companies identified three principal directors — two Thai nationals and one Israeli national. Authorities are assessing whether the shareholding arrangements and business operations comply with Thai law.

The review also covers the land, its acquisition and use, land-use approvals, building permits and commercial permissions relating to trading activities inside Chabad Patong. Authorities are separately examining whether the shareholders overlap with those of a company linked to a Jewish cemetery in Phuket. Thai Post reported on 20 September that officials were continuing to trace possible business links to the cemetery-linked company.

Deputy Government Spokeswoman Ploytalay Laksameesang said available information indicated that the company that built the cemetery had three shareholders or founders, all Israeli nationals who hold Thai citizenship, and owned the land. She said the information might be connected to Chabad in Phuket. This information concerns the cemetery-linked company and is separate from the director information reported for the two Chabad-associated companies.

Kerdsom said the province was examining the site in all dimensions, including the activities conducted there and their possible effects on the area. He said a Chabad House may be used for religious activities, prayer, Jewish religious study and events marking important religious days, but that each type of activity has different characteristics and conditions. The province would assess the actual activities at the site and the relevant Thai laws and permits, he said. That general explanation of activities potentially permitted under Thai law is separate from the later municipal account of the specific 2015 permit for this building.

Thai Post reported on 20 September that agencies including the Office of Consumer Protection Board, Phuket’s public health and commerce offices, Customs, the Phuket Land Office, administrative officials, police and local government organisations were examining goods and documents relating to imported products sold at the site. Daily News reported that customs temporarily detained merchandise pending the checks.

Preliminary issues included some products lacking Thai-language labels, as well as questions about public-health standards and oversight by the Food and Drug Administration. Customs officials were checking import documents, origin, customs clearance, duties and taxes, and records for domestic sale. The temporary detention was a verification measure, not a confirmed finding that the products were illegal, and the reports did not provide a final overall finding.

Kerdsom said products sold in Thailand must comply with Thai standards and laws, regardless of standards applied in another country. He said that if officials found unlawful conduct or a failure to comply with an official order, the matter would proceed under the applicable legal process.

The Phuket News reported that the inspection followed weeks of protests and increasingly hostile rhetoric directed at Chabad House and Phuket’s Jewish community. At the time of its 16 September report, officials had not announced whether they had found evidence of illegal activity at Chabad House Patong, and the governor had not publicly commented on anti-Jewish sentiment openly demonstrated by some groups on the island.

Laksameesang said the Phuket provincial administration would announce the investigation results publicly after the review was completed. Nation Thailand initially reported that about five agencies had been assigned to examine whether the use of the premises, activities and business operations required permits or further action under applicable laws. The governor expected the agencies to compile their findings by the following week, after which the province would prepare an overall account of matters within its jurisdiction and inform the public.

Kerdsom said officials would coordinate with relevant agencies to verify information and documents before considering an appropriate course of action based on the law, public order, safety and the interests of people in the area. The later agency checks were to be carried out within the respective authorities’ legal mandates before the findings were consolidated and reported to the public.

Laksameesang also said Phuket had more than 32,000 registered legal entities, including more than 11,000 with foreign shareholders, representing 34.59% of the total. The largest foreign shareholder groups were Russian, Chinese, British, French and Australian.

In the Phuket figures cited by the province, authorities had identified 6,682 legal entities as potentially involving nominee shareholders and said there was sufficient evidence to bring cases against 196. Laksameesang separately reported that nine cases had received court judgments, six were under consideration and 191 remained under investigation. Those three status figures total 206, but the reports presented them as separate measures and did not identify them as a breakdown of either the 6,682 entities or the 196 cases.

She said tighter scrutiny had contributed to a decline of more than 60% in registrations of legal entities with foreign shareholders, while cancellations of legal entities had increased by about 30%.

In a separate nationwide update on 18 September 2026, government spokesman Ekkapob Pianpises said authorities had identified about 2,100 companies whose shareholding structures suggested nominee use, while more than 10,000 other companies had been flagged for further scrutiny. The national figures were reported separately from Phuket’s 6,682-entity figure, and the reports did not establish that the populations were the same.