LATEST UPDATE (May 2023):
It’s been a few years, COVID-19 slowed things down somewhat, but as of mid-2022 The Bet Chaim of Pai Thailand is rocking!
Hundreds of tourists and travelers are using the new Chabad house in Pai!
This is an amazing success story and it brings all of us tremendous joy to see so many people being able to enhance their Jewish travel experience, meeting fellow travelers, and enjoying a “home away from home” through Chaim!
Some photos and videos:
LATEST UPDATE (November/2019):
IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING!!!
We launched this project with the hopes of building a Chabad House in India, in the very place where Chaim left us. However, after many meetings and extensive collaboration with the leaders that oversee Chabad establishments in Southeast Asia, we reached a consensus that a more acute need for a new establishment existed outside of India, and Pai, Thailand, was identified as the match for our mission.
While this may seem like a shift from our original plan, we know that Chaim, our easygoing optimist, would have approved. After further exploring the needs and opportunities available in Goa, we came to the conclusion that the risks involved outweighed our original hopes and intent, and we knew that we owed it to each individual that contributed to this project to ensure that their contribution would become a part of something with longevity, security and permanence.
India will always hold a unique place in our hearts, and we will forever be grateful to the Chabad community in and associated with India, but the goal of our project has always been to establish a "Bet Chaim" in the location best suited to fulfill its purpose, and Pai has emerged as the ideal place for this to happen.
Because of your generous support, we have been able to collaborate with Rabbi Chaim Eliezer Ashkenazi, the Administrator and Logistics Chief of Chabad of Thailand, to support the establishment of a permanent Chabad presence in Pai.
It is our hope that a formal dedication ceremony will take place when the new building has been completed and we will continue to provide updates so that each of you can see the actual results of your collective, incredible support and generosity.
In the meantime, please continue to think of our precious Chaim when you can, so that his beautiful smile never fades, and his ability to see the good in everyone - and everything - can continue to inspire every person left in his wake.
UPDATE (10/2019): Property Scouting & Purchase in Pai, Thailand!
Chezkie Kasnett visits Pai to help Chabad select and purchase the permanent location for the upcoming Beit Chaim Kasnett as well as to meet the new Shluchim who will be running the Chabad house.
UPDATE: Yom Kippur 2019
The current Chabad House building on the property in Pai opened its doors once again to provide Yom Kippur services.
UPDATE: Rosh Hashanah 2019
Almost 200 guests celebrated Rosh Hashanah in Pai, Thailand! on the newly acquired property.
UPDATE: Passover 2019
The English anniversary of Chaim's death, April 24th, falls out in the middle of the Passover holiday this year. It is fitting, then, that the Pai Chabad House will open its temporary doors in time for Passover this year, with 150 guests already expected to pass through its doors!
Will Thailand Top Nepal as Site of World’s Biggest Passover Seder? Read here.
Created by Oren Rosenfeld, acclaimed photojournalist and film producer who was filming in Goa as the events unfolded.
Help us build the "Home of Chaim" by donating to this project.