More planes to evacuate Thais
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More than 1,000 sign up with embassy in Cairo to leave Egypt as crisis worsens
THAILAND WILL send more aircraft to evacuate Thais in Egypt as the crisis there worsens, with the death toll now reaching 750 and supporters of the ousted Egyptian president vowing to stage new demonstrations.
Deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Jakkrit Srivali said as of yesterday, a total of 1,035 Thais had registered with the Thai Embassy in Cairo, saying they wanted to return home. Altogether, there are about 2,000 Thais in the country.
The evacuation will first concentrate on removing those from the country with no necessity to stay.
So far, the fleet of aircraft bringing Thais home consists of four C-130 passenger planes from the Royal Thai Air Force and a flight scheduled with Thai International Airways. Thai evacuees will be picked up at Dubai International Airport in the UAE, the transit point for the evacuation.
Air Force Commander-in-Chief Prajin Jantong yesterday said that two C-130 planes that were scheduled to leave Don Mueang’s military airport at noon yesterday, had to be delayed as flight permission was needed to enter the airspace of Myanmar, India, Oman and the UAE. As of press time, the Thai authorities had only received permission from Myanmar.
Prajin said the C-130 transport planes will be accompanied by medical teams and representatives from the Foreign Ministry to provide Thai evacuees with consular assistance. The Bangkok-Dubai flights would take about ten hours. Each aircraft has a capacity of 110 passengers.
Meanwhile, Air Force spokesman AVM Monthon Satchukorn said two additional C-130 planes would be dispatched to Dubai today to help with the Thai evacuation.
The Air Force will be responsible for expenses incurred, ACM Sujin said, adding three teams of pilots have been prepared for each plane because of the distance to be flown.
Sorajak Kasemsuvan, president of THAI said his company had also prepared a special flight to help evacuate Thais at the request of Foreign Ministry. The Boeing 747-400 to Dubai, with a capacity for 365 passengers, left Bangkok yesterday at 8pm and is scheduled to arrive in Bangkok today at 11.45am.
The national carrier said it would cooperate fully with the Foreign Ministry to stay abreast of the situation and ensure that it was available, if needed, to assist Thai evacuees in returning to Thais home safely.
Meanwhile Public Health Minister Dr Pradit Sintawanarong said that a four-member medical team would travel to Dubai with the C-130 aircraft to take care of the health of Thais. More medical team would wait at Don Mueang military airport to care Thais upon their arrival in Bangkok.
Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said families of Thais in Egypt could contact his ministry 24 hours a day at 0-2-643-5107 for related situation updates.
