The company operating a Jewish cemetery in Chachoengsao has asked for an additional seven days to relocate the remains of four people buried there, after the cemetery was found to have failed to meet legal and environmental requirements.
Representatives of Gan Chabad Co. Ltd., the owner of ‘Jewish Cemetery Thailand’ in Bang Khla district, submitted the request yesterday, asking to postpone the relocation deadline of September 16.
The company said it needs additional time to prepare for the exhumations and reinterments at a new site.
The relatives of the deceased had initially contacted authorities seeking to take custody of the remains, but the company expressed its intention to take full responsibility for the relocation.
Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said one of the four people buried there was a British national who entered Thailand on a 60-day tourist visa. The other three were Israeli nationals. One entered Thailand on a 60-day tourist visa, another on a 30-day tourist visa, while the third held a one-year non-immigrant visa.
Polapee recently held a video conference with Chachoengsao Governor Chatpra-orn Niyom, the Bang Khla district chief and the Bang Khla police chief to discuss the issue.
The governor reported on a comparison between the cemetery’s original establishment permit, issued in 2021, and the decision not to renew the permit in 2023.
The original application in 2021 cited approval from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Culture, confirming that the site was not forest land or an archaeological site. It also used Highway 304 as the reference point for measuring the required distance, with the cemetery located 1.5km away.
The Department of Highways, however, upgraded the road in front of the cemetery to a highway in 2022, meaning the site no longer met the requirement that a cemetery be located at least 50 metres from a highway.
Documents from the Samet Tai Subdistrict Administrative Organisation also cited requirements under the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act B.E. 2528 (1985), which stipulate that a cemetery must be at least 400 metres from a public water source.
An inspection, however, found a small waterway near the cemetery. The waterway was not mentioned in the cemetery’s 2021 permit application, which instead referred to another water source located 400 metres away.
Relevant authorities will continue to oversee the relocation of all four sets of remains to ensure that it is carried out in strict compliance with the law and regulations, Polapee said.
