UPDATE: Thailand expands checks on four bodies at Chachoengsao Jewish cemetery

Thai authorities are working to a two-day deadline to clarify the identities and causes of death of four bodies found at Jewish Cemetery Thailand in Chachoengsao, including whether the burials took place while the site held a valid licence.

Daily News reported on 13 September 2026 that the deadline followed Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwannachee's inspection of the cemetery on 11 September. Polapee inspected the site in Samed Tai subdistrict, Bang Khla district, alongside officials from the Department of Special Investigation and local administrative authorities. He said the site had no valid licence to operate as a cemetery or crematorium, and that local authorities had not been notified of the deaths.

Three graves had been sealed with concrete and marked with marble nameplates showing 2023, 2025 and 2026 as the years of death, according to Polapee. A fourth body was under a tent and had not been sealed. Polapee said he believed it had been brought to the site in 2026.

Polapee ordered officials to establish the identities of the deceased and whether they were foreign nationals, as claimed, before any transfer of the bodies. The follow-up checks also cover dates of entry into Thailand, death-notification records and causes of death, as well as whether each burial took place while the cemetery held a valid licence. Public-health and administrative officials were instructed to determine whether the deaths resulted from natural causes, accidents or violence.

The company sought to move the bodies to a cemetery in the Charoen Krung area of Bangkok. Polapee said it would have to provide documents from relevant authorities confirming the identities and causes of death before any transfer. The follow-up review also covers the legal requirements for moving the bodies, the proposed destination and whether the families of the deceased knew about or were involved in the proposed removal.

Polapee said the cemetery's licence was granted in 2021 but was not renewed in 2023. Officials are comparing the 2021 establishment licence with the province's decision not to renew it in late 2023, including why the licence was granted, why it was not renewed and whether conditions at the site had changed, Daily News reported.

Daily News also said officials were checking the licence status and legality of a Jewish cemetery on Charoen Krung in Bangkok, which was reported to contain about 49 Israeli graves. Provincial authorities are expected to submit a factual report to the Administrative Court in a pending case concerning the Chachoengsao site.

In a report published on 12 September 2026, The Nation said Gan Chabad Co Ltd and Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor were facing scrutiny as authorities traced business links connected to the Bang Khla cemetery. The report did not establish wrongdoing by Kantor or the wider Gan Chabad network.

Polapee also alleged links between the company's shareholders and businesses in Patong, Phuket, as well as a business network in Chonburi. He said Gan Chabad Co Ltd handled the land transaction, which involved about 15 rai valued at roughly B20 million.

According to Polapee, three shareholders were Israeli nationals who had acquired Thai citizenship and were legally entitled to purchase land. He said authorities were investigating the wider network, including alleged nominee arrangements involving land, hotels, property and businesses.

Polapee said no predicate offence for money laundering had yet been identified at the cemetery. He warned that assets could be frozen and Thai citizenship revoked if wrongdoing were established.

Daily News said an online meeting was scheduled for 16:00 on 13 September 2026 to summarise the checks on the four bodies, the removal process, cemetery licensing and related information on cemeteries and crematoria nationwide.