'Missing' Thais alive and well, ministry says
Play
FOREIGN Ministry spokesman Sek Wannamethee said late yesterday that the Thai Embassy in Kathmandu had found that six Thai medical students unaccounted for since the massive earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday were safe.
The group went to Kathmandu on Thursday. The last time they could be reached was on Friday through Line and social media.
They were thought to be staying in Ghorepani, a famous trekking village in the country’s central north.
The six Srinakharinwirot University students were identified as Jessada Supapitiporn, Dnuwit Jaikeaw, Wasin Chaiwanon, Naruedol Nakhan, Thansuda Auttavin and Nuanchan Chianpattanarak.
A group of 20 Thai officials, their families and those staying in towers had taken refuge in the embassy’s compound, but did not want to return to their homeland, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sek Wannamethee said.
Some 30 Thais residing in the Nepali capital were all safe, as well as a group of 34 Thais attending a meeting in the village of Nagarkot, about 30 kilometres away from Kathmandu.
They had registered for air tickets and were about to return to Bangkok.
About 100 Thais reside in Nepal, 60 of whom live in Kathmandu, while 26,000 travelled to the Himalayan country last year, mostly on pilgrimages or for sightseeing.
The 7.69-magnitude quake is the worst in 80 years.
