On 29 November 2008, Mr. Sompong Amornvivat, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Olarn Chaipravat, Deputy Prime Minister, and Mr.Weerasak Kowsurat, Minister of Tourism and Sports, gave a press briefing at the Foreign Ministry to update on the measures to assist foreign tourists and Thai nationals affected by the closure of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang Airports. Gist as follows:
- The Royal Thai Government is committed to assisting foreign tourists to return to their home countries as well as bringing the Thai nationals home.
- The domestic assistance of the foreign tourists is progressing. The Royal Thai Government has evacuated tourists from the Airports to the hotels and now moved to the next phase of sending the tourists back to their home countries. The city terminals will be established in the designated hotels in Bangkok for the tourists in Bangkok and Metropolitan as their check-in points to facilitate the foreign tourists before transporting them to the airports. City terminals will be located in 4-6 hotels, the detail of which will soon be officially announced. Prior to the announcement, the tourists who stay outside Bangkok are advised to remain where they are to avoid their cluster in Bangkok and the metropolitan area and also in case of the regional airports being arranged for their outbound flights.
- In assisting the Thai nationals abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will coordinate on the number of Thai nationals abroad through the Royal Thai Embassies and Consulates-General.
- The Government plans to reimburse foreign tourists and Thai nationals 2,000 baht per diem to subsidise their financial burden.
- Deputy Prime Minister Olarn stated that a budget of no less than one billion baht will be needed to tackle the problem. He additionally gave the estimates of the damage caused by the airport closure that the number of tourists next year is expected to drop in half from this year, leaving 6-7 million foreigners traveling to Thailand. One million jobs in the tourism-related industry are likely to be affected, unless the Government undertakes appropriate counter measures.
Prime Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Press Division, Department of Information Tel.(02) 643-5170
Fax. (02) 643-5169 E-mail : div0704@mfa.go.th End.
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