Thai student in Paris hid in basement near attack

The chilling account came as Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai said that no Thai had been caught up in the attacks – and asked every Thai in Paris not to go outside and inform the Thai embassy there if they need help.

Kantawat Pongriyawattana, a post-graduate student, was working at a Thai eatery when a Cambodian restaurant, Le Petit Cambodge, was targeted.

“It was around 10pm on Friday night. I was serving food when I noticed the customers start panicking when they knew that there was an attack in the city via phone calls and social media,” Kantawat said.

“I did not hear the gunfire because I was inside the restaurant. However, all of us were later informed that there were several rampages and bombs in the city and we were told to stay inside.” 

He said the owner of his restaurant closed it and evacuated all the staff and customers to the basement. He could hear the sirens of police cars and ambulances.

During the two hours he spent in the basement, he admitted that he was scared because on social media it was reported that the gunmen had attacked people at random. It was also reported that the attack at Le Petit Cambodge resulted in 12 deaths.

“I later left the restaurant around 2am. The street was very quiet as people were told to stay inside. Some of the metro [train] lines were suspended, so I had to take an alternative route home,” Kantawat said.

He said the Thai community in Paris was shocked by the attacks with people busy checking the safety of friends and relatives.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said more than 1,000 Thais live in Paris. 

“The terrorism threat in Paris has been common since the attack on Charlie Hebdo earlier this year, so we are quite familiar with rumours about attacks. But this time the shooting was so close that I was terrified and felt unsafe to live in Paris,” Kantawat said.

“Therefore, I plan to return to Thailand soon.”

Don said the Thai embassy in Paris had issued the warning for all Thais in Paris to remain indoors and call the embassy if they needed help on the all-day hotline 336 0359-9705.

Apinan Poshyananda, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Culture, and four Thai officials were in Paris at the time of attacks. Apinan said his group had attended a meeting at Unesco. 

He said he went to the Louvre museum on Friday night and left at 8pm and returned to his hotel, which was located quite far from where the attacks later occurred. He planned to return to Bangkok yesterday.