Last night, we went out to dinner at the only kosher restaurant in Northern Thailand. It is part of the Chabad centre, a mere five minute walk from our hotel.
But first a few words the Israeli presence here.
Chiang Mai, being the centre of all activities in Northern Thailand, many of them outdoors and adventure kind of tourism (trekking, elephants, Buddhist temples, hiking, visiting neighbouring countries like Laos and Burma) is a magnet for young Israelis, especially those who travel this part of the world after their stint in the army. So there are many Israelis who come here to tour and many have stayed and are working in the tourism business as travel agents, tour arrangers, restaurant owners etc.
When you walk thru the four corners that represent the centre of town here, you will see many signs in Hebrew, hear Israeli and sefaradi music blaring from loudspeakers, Thai people greeting us with Hebrew words (as a result of my kippah)...in fact one Thai tailor asked me in Thai accented Hebrew " ata rotzeh chalifa ?" (Do you want a shirt?).....there are a number of restaurants in town that are 100% traif that have large signs in Hebrew to attract the young Israeli traveler (when I asked one of them whether his restaurant was kasher, he replied that he uses no pork, no seafood....but there was one problem....none of his meat had shechita!). And this same guy told me that generally on Shabbat morning he tries to drop into Chabad.
The Sababa Restaurant
In short, there are very few Thai Jews, but there is a sizeable Israeli population that is here for short periods of time and a much larger population that travels thru.
So Chabad opened up a centre here. There is a shaliach and his wife and family who have been here for a few years. They have a shul, a meeting/drop in centre, provide a service of sending and receiving faxes and parcels for Israelis to their family back home, and are here to help anyone Jewish who is passing thru.
Outside the Chabad House, Chiang Mai
The Shul
They also have a full time restaurant that is open all day till late at night and their food is delicious and plentiful and must be subsidized, as it is amazingly cheap. We had a large bowl of Yemenite meat soup (easily enough for two), and a gigantic chicken stir fry main course with rice...total bill was about $11. When Fran asked the waiter for tea, he said feel free to serve yourself...tea and cookies are always here for anyone who drops in and they are free.
The Restaurant
As a result, there was a steady flow of people there, many were young backpackers and besides ourselves one other young dati couple who will also be here for Shabbat.
There is always a minyan on Friday night and Shabbat morning, followed by a free meal (donations are welcomed and appreciated); the Shabbat day meal is followed by Michael and then usually a minyan for Maariv on motzaei Shabbat. Other than that, there are no minyanim other than chagim.
The Placemat which highlights all the Chabad Houses in Thailand
Chabad is providing a service for the young Israeli and with their very open door policy and their smiling welcome, many of these Israelis who would never have anything to do with the religious community in Israel, feel very comfortable identifying with Chabad as to them it represents the only family that they have here. Really amazing. They have a number of locations in Bangkok and besides Chiang Mai, there are Chabad Houses with restaurants in Koh Samoi and in Phuket, two beach resorts in the south of Thailand.
I am sure that we will have lots to write about our experiences after Shabbat.
Regarding religious tolerance, I have gone everywhere here with my kippah and there is not even a stare....they really know very little about Jews, they are aware of Israelis, and being a very religious people, mainly Buddhists, they respect religion. So I feel at this point that it is a very safe place for Jews.
One other thing, for all our fears that food would be an issue on this trip, it is clear that with a bit of searching, one could make do without schlepping tons of stuff here. So far in both Hong Kong and in Chiang Mai (besides the kosher restaurants in each town) we have found some (not many) items on the store shelves with hashgacha...you just have to know which stores to shop in.
Anyway....we are off to ride elephants and cuddle with tigers in their cages....really! We will let you know how it goes later today
All the best
Fran and David
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