13 Thais flown home from Chongqing in chartered flight, no symptoms of coronavirus
The first group of Thais stranded in Chongqing, China, reached Suvarnabhumi Airport at 6.35pm on Friday (January 31). None of them showed symptoms of the new coronavirus pneumonia but they will be monitored in quarantine for 14 days.
Airport deputy general manager Kittipong Kittikachorn said that a Thai Smile flight WE685 had carried 13 Thai persons from Chongqing, the eighth most-affected city in China. “All passengers and staff on the flight have undergone a thorough physical check and no signs of the new coronavirus symptoms have been found,” he said.
Kittipong added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs arranged the chartered flight after receiving a report that Thais in Chongqing could no longer live in the city as their employers had stopped paying their wages. The ministry then contacted the Consulate-General of Thailand in Chengdu to charter a flight to pick them up at its own expense.
“The passengers departed Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport in Yubei district of Chongqing at 4.15pm [local time],” he added.
Located on the southwest, Chongqing is one of the four municipalities under the direct administration of the central government of China (the other three are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin), and the only such municipality located far from the coast.
