The safe space for travelling Israelis is narrowing, even in the Land of Smiles

Detailed summary

On the blissful island of Koh Phangan, tensions are growing between local Thais and an ever-increasing number of Israeli travellers.

Koh Phangan: It’s sundown on the blissful Thai island of Koh Phangan and the beach at Srithanu is swarming with impossibly bronzed 20-somethings with the physiques of gymnasts.

Women in bikinis are dipping in the glassy sea or lounging with a cocktail and smoke by the Flamingo Bar. The blokes are shirtless and clustered in loose circles playing keep-it-up with soccer balls. It’s a cracking scene.

Me, I’m bumbling over the soft sand with a sunburnt nose and pasty-skinned limbs wrapped in pants and a T-shirt.Harry, my Thai colleague, meanwhile, is the only Asian face on the beach.

It is young Israelis who make up most, if not all, of the few hundred loungers, ocean-dippers and soccer ball-kickers.

The route is long-established but only since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led terrorist attacks has it become so busy, Israelis and local Thais tell us.

Like Australians to Bali, Brits to Mallorca and Americans to Cancun, Israelis come to Koh Phangan, Koh Samui and Phuket, in the south of Thailand. Many are fresh from nearly three years of mandatory military service during their government’s ensuing war in Gaza.

“After two or three years of serving, and all the missiles we get from the Arabs, we are looking for a peaceful place,” says one young man who hails from the northern Israeli city of Haifa, which has been shelled by militant group Hezbollah, listed by the Australian government as a terrorist organisation.

Thailand and Israel have good relations. More than 40 Thai migrant workers were among those killed in the October 7 attacks – a point of solidarity.

Here is safety, camaraderie and sun. Thailand has become a haven for Israelis to heal, and sometimes prosper; and, increasingly, for some locals and Bangkok-based nationalists this is a problem.

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