Bodies will be removed from unlicensed jewish cemetery, says minister

 At least three  bodies will be exhumed and removed from an unlicensed jewish cemetery in Chachoengsao province, and authorities will check the legality of other judaic cemeteries, Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said on Monday.

Mr Polapee said the three bodies to be removed from the cemetery in Chachoengsao were believed to have been buried after its licence expired. The Jewish Cemetery Thailand covers 9,600 square metres in tambon Samet Thai of Bang Khla district.

Mr Polapee said it was issued a three-year licence in 2021. It expired in 2023. Authorities rejected a renewal request because the cemetery breached the regulations. It was too close to a road and a river. The cemetery’s owner had since petitioned the Administrative Court for a  ruling.

“At this moment, the cemetery is unlicensed,” the deputy interior minister said.

Officials would look into the first of the three burirals and if it was confirmed illegal the body would be exhumed, Mr Polapee said. They would then move to the other two burials.

Officials were also looking into the legality of other jewish cemeteries on Charoen Krung Road in Bangkok.

On Monday activist Srisuwan Janya asked the National Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the issuance of the Chachoengsao cemetery’s licence in 2021.

He said regulations required that a cemetery to be at least 400 metres from a waterway and 50 metres from a road. The cemetery in Chachoengsao was 3.60-9m from a road and only 187m from a canal.