Thailand Orders Revocation of Chabad Leader Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor’s Citizenship

Thailand’s Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed an order dated October 28 revoking the Thai citizenship of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, a leader of the country’s Jewish community and its Chabad network. The order, reported in Thai media on October 29, concerns his naturalization and his subsequent use of American nationality for international travel. The ministry notice says Kantor obtained Thai citizenship under Section 10 of the Nationality Act. His naturalization was published in the Royal Gazette on April 11, 2013, and he received his first Thai identity card on May 2 that year. The notice alleges that he later used American nationality for travel into and out of Australia on 16 occasions, most recently on January 26, 2026. The ministry says that conduct breached the conditions he acknowledged when applying for naturalization. The withdrawal order invokes Section 19(2) of the Nationality Act and the minister’s authority under Section 19. The travel allegation is the ministry’s stated basis for its administrative decision. Kantor arrived in Bangkok in 1993 with his wife and daughter to serve the Jewish community and leads Chabad-Lubavitch religious and community services for residents and visitors. Separately, Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation said on October 9 that it had transferred evidence about naturalized citizens’ continued use of former-country passports to the Department of Provincial Administration for review. That earlier release did not name Kantor.