There isn't a person who keeps kosher who doesn't know this:
a visit abroad also entails a regular visit to the supermarket before the flight. The shopping list is also quite regular: cans of canned tuna and corn, a hot dish, a sliced loaf of bread, snacks, various crackers, and those with courage who are not afraid of a stench Cabanos is also added to the suitcase.
Being kosher observant abroad is a complicated business. In recent years, more airlines offer kosher vacations and make the matter easier. But there is one time a year that a kosher observant person does not even think about being abroad - Pesach.
If keeping kosher abroad is difficult, keeping kosher on Pesach sounds like an even more impossible task than dividing portfolios in Likud.
A visit to an elephant farm, including feeding, photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
Well, this year you can find both Passover, Kosher (strictly!) and a dream destination - Thailand.
A brief look at the menu waiting for kosher-observant vacationers, who decide to spend the upcoming Passover in Thailand, reveals the unbelievable: Kabanos, tuna and a hot dish - out;
Classic fish gefilte, orange caviar and red radish - none.
A look at the menu shows that the legendary delicacy, gefilte fish, is just the beginning.
Thus, for example, on Seder night, "fish fillet seared on its skin with lemon peel and wild thyme", "chard compote and hot field artichoke", "duck confit made with hoisin, honey and black plums", etc. will also be served.
To all the fun add what Thailand, and only Thailand, can offer: magical landscapes, dreamy hotels and endless attractions for children and adults who are still children.
Those responsible for this ambitious venture are the "Kesht Tourism" company, which specializes in kosher resorts in Asia, together with the "Tai Tours" agency, which is responsible for attractions and tours.
It is doubtful if you will see the older children at all, photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
The company rented a luxury resort hotel, with about 600 rooms, from the AVANI hotel chain in Khao Lak, which is about a two-hour drive from Phuket.
It's worth dwelling on the hotel because you don't see something like this every day, and certainly not in Israel: the hotel was built on the ruins of an old hotel that was destroyed in the tsunami, and the big challenge at the hotel is trying to find a good reason to leave it.
Swimming with elephants and water park
The hotel has one 150(!) meter long pool, which can also be accessed from the room balconies on the ground floor, and one large and well-maintained pool with facilities for children.
If you are tired of the pools, you can walk inside the hotel to the amazing beach strip.
And if you're tired of water, go to the nearest playground and let the babysitters (Hebrew-speaking) be there to look after the children, and you'll have another smoothie (kosher for Passover) on the beach.
Access to the pool is possible from the room's balcony, photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
The older children, it is doubtful if you will see them at all - a floor above the playroom there is a Playstation room with familiar video games from the malls such as basketball, air hockey, table football and more.
When they're done there, they'll probably go to the basketball court in the hotel or the skateboard track inside the hotel(!), or the climbing wall(!).
Also, yes, inside the hotel.
This Passover holiday includes nine nights and ten days.
You are in Thailand, so you will most likely have to leave the hotel.
And even then there are days of trips with everything Thailand has to offer, and it has something to offer the whole family: a day trip that includes sailing and snorkeling to magical corners, an ATV trip, a visit to an elephant farm that includes feeding and a bonus: swimming with the elephants, and also a trip to the huge Andamada water park.
Sounds tiring, right?
So what, you can't skip the local mitzvah of fighting with merchants over clothes, bags and what not.
And when you get really tired - you need a massage.
Well, you are in Thailand.
Among all the abundance and attractions we almost forgot that this is a holiday that includes prayers.
The hotel underwent a "conversion": carpets with figures of women in swimsuits were replaced with neutral carpets, and two synagogues will be assigned to the place - one Ashkenazi and one Sephardic.
150 m long pool.
Avani + Hotel, photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
In the end you have to pay for this indulgence, and here's the bill: a family that includes a pair of parents and three children will pay about NIS 58,000 for ten days.
Not cheap, but considering the fact that the price includes flights to Thailand and the savings of training the kitchen and buying all the basic products and food for ten days, this option sounds more logical and efficient.
Eli Shoham, CEO of Keshet Tourism, concludes: "A kosher trip to Thailand for Passover is possible.
We have a stunning program for the kosher observant crowd.
We had 60 hotels and we chose one carefully, and not just by chance.
We take out organized trips and operate attractions, and they will also have kosher food.
The customer is not buying a product - he is buying an experience for a lifetime."
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