Thai government waives visa upon arrivals for Iranians

BAGNKOK, February 15 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, has revoked a plan to issue visa on arrivals for Iranian visitors to the Kingdom. Thai Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa , who is a deputy prime minister concurrently, conceded that three bomb explosions on Sukhumvit 71 Road in Bangkok on Tuesday, found to have caused by at least an Iranian man, has prompted his ministry to call off the plan. In response to renewed warnings of the US and the British governments for their people to avoid visiting major cities in Thailand, Chumpol acknowledged there might be some psychological impacts on international travelers, but those who had already booked their tour packages had not canceled their trips. According to the deputy premier, international tourist arrivals in Thailand in January 2012 have remained normal, with their number reaching some 1.94 million. The deputy premier told journalists that he has ordered officials to inform the international community that the Thai government is doing the best to guarantee safety of global tourists, and that his ministry will soon issue additional safety measures for the international tourists. Meanwhile, Thai security authorities concluded that Tuesday's bomb blasts were actually meant to kill individuals and not to launch a terror attack and had no connection with a Lebanese terrorist suspect, Atris Hussein, who was arrested for possessing bomb-making materials early this year and has been detained ever since. In a latest development, Thai police reported that three out of four suspects of Tuesday's explosions have already been arrested. Two of them are male, one is female and the remaining one has lost his two legs and has been hospitalized at a hospital in the capital. (TNA)