The crisis that broke out on the Thai island of Kosmoi, against the backdrop of the expulsion of an Israeli couple from a zoo, is heading for further escalation, after the Thai authorities announced the cancellation of the visa of an Israeli suspected of offering a financial reward in exchange for harming the zoo owner, before deciding to expel him from the country.
According to a report by journalist Assaf Wakinen on the Israeli “Mako” website, the Thai Minister of Tourism announced this morning that the authorities decided to cancel the visa of an Israeli, suspected of “putting a financial bounty on the head of the owner of the zoo in Kosmoi,” stressing that the decision prevents him from continuing to reside in the country. He said that the authorities decided to take a firm step to prevent the incident from escalating and causing additional problems.
The case goes back to an incident whose details were previously published by the “Mako” website, after the owner of the place assaulted an Israeli couple and expelled them from the park while they were there with their two young daughters. After publishing the details of the incident, the owners of the place said that they received messages and threats from Israelis and Jews from all over the world.
The Thai Minister of Tourism said in an interview with reporters: “We are ready to welcome all tourists who abide by Thai law and respect our culture. We will not allow anyone to use our country as a platform to create conflicts that have nothing to do with the country. We welcome everyone, but not tourists who come here to cause problems or use Thailand to express conflicts.”
The minister added that the government is closely following events involving foreign tourists, explaining that the Prime Minister directed local authorities, tourism police and law enforcement agencies in various regions to deal with these events as quickly as possible.
When asked whether Thailand intends to reconsider visas granted to tourists from countries whose citizens are involved in similar incidents, he said that the authorities will deal with each case individually at the current stage, adding: “If there is a problem, we will quickly cancel the visa.” He stressed that measures would be taken individually, and not against tourists on the basis of their nationality.
The “Mako” website reported yesterday that the couple who manage the “Samui Exotic Park” went to the Central Investigation Office in Bangkok, after they reported, according to the report, that Israelis threatened to harm them, burn their house, and burn the zoo.
As a result, the Thai authorities began investigating the incident, at a time when the issue was expanding from a dispute that began inside a zoo in Kosmoy to official procedures that included canceling the visa and expulsion from the country, amid government assurances that Thailand will not allow its lands to be turned into an arena for conflicts that have nothing to do with it.
