Thailand has revoked the Thai citizenship of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, the long-serving head of the Chabad-Lubavitch network in the country, after officials said he continued to use a United States passport following his naturalisation. The order was signed on Wednesday 28 October by Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, according to reports of the ministry notice.

The order and the passport allegation

The ministry's case rests on travel records supplied by the Department of Special Investigation. Officials said Kantor used his US nationality when entering and leaving Australia on 16 occasions after becoming a naturalised Thai citizen in 2013, most recently on 26 January 2026. Kantor arrived in Bangkok in 1993 to serve as rabbi, and has led Thailand's Jewish community for more than three decades. The ministry said he had been aware of the conditions attached to his naturalisation application, and that using a former nationality breached those conditions.

The legal basis cited by the ministry

The revocation was made under Section 19 of Thailand's Nationality Act, which allows the minister to withdraw naturalised citizenship where there is evidence of continued use of a former nationality. Kantor was granted citizenship under Section 10 of the Act, with the decision published in the Royal Gazette on 11 April 2013, and his first Thai identity card issued on 2 May that year.

Wider inquiries, and Chabad's response

The citizenship order is separate from ongoing inquiries involving Gan Chabad Co Ltd and other Chabad-linked activities, officials said. In joint searches on 8 October, investigators examined company control, land holdings, donations and financial transactions at three Bangkok sites. No criminal findings were announced in those separate business, land and financial investigations. Chabad Thailand said it regretted the citizenship decision and was pursuing legal means to challenge it.

Sources: ASEAN NOW, Dvash.