ID :
33035
Sat, 11/29/2008 - 23:14
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/33035
The shortlink copeid
ABOUT 100,000 FOREIGN TOURISTS STRANDED IN THAILAND By D. Arul Rajoo
BANGKOK, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- About 100,000 foreigners are stranded in
Thailand and between 40,000 and 50,000 Thais abroad, after over 700 flights were
cancelled due to the shut down of the Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports in
the capital over the past five days, Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat
said Saturday.
He said the Thai Government was doing its best to assist the affected
passengers, providing a budget of up to one billion baht to cover accommodation
and food costing 2,000 baht daily for each passenger, including Thais stranded
overseas.
"We are trying to facilitate their return with the opening of the Utapao
airport as the main gateway now, as well as adding more flights at the Phuket
and Chiang Mai international airports.
"This will help tourists and travellers to go to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur
and
Singapore to get connecting flights from there," he told a press conference at
the foreign ministry.
Speaking after a meeting with Olarn Chaipravat, the deputy prime minister
in
charge of economic affairs and Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat,
Sompong said Thailand had 26 airports nationwide but not all were up to
international standards.
Giving a bleak picture of the lucrative tourism industry, Sompong, who was
also initially stranded in Germany, said the number of tourist arrivals could
drop by 50 per cent next year, as compared to the estimated 13.5 million this
year.
The Suvarnabhumi Airport serves about 100 airlines with flights to 184
cities in 68 countries, handling 100,000 passengers daily, while Don Muang
serves domestic routes.
The crisis that stunned the nation and shocked the world looks likely to
continue after hundreds of protesters chased away a group of anti-riot policeman
who had blocked a road to the Suvarnabhumi Airport this morning, grabbing a
policeman who was kidnapped.
His fate is unknown as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) vowed to
battle until their last drop of blood, putting barbed wires, lorries and
airport luggage trolleys to block roads leading to the two airports.
Sompong said that if the airport shutdown continued, it would lead to about
one million workers in the tourism and related industries losing their jobs.
On the congestion at the Utapao Airport, which is a naval base located
about
140km from here, Sompong said efforts were being made to convert six hotels and
an exhibition centre in the capital as a city terminal to facilitate check-in of
passengers.
On the fate of the Asean Summit scheduled from Dec 13 to 18, he said the
Cabinet would decide whether to postpone or go ahead during its meeting on
Tuesday, admitting that Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam had asked the Asean
Secretariat to delay the annual gathering of the 10-member regional grouping and
its dialogue partners.
-- BERNAMA
Thailand and between 40,000 and 50,000 Thais abroad, after over 700 flights were
cancelled due to the shut down of the Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports in
the capital over the past five days, Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat
said Saturday.
He said the Thai Government was doing its best to assist the affected
passengers, providing a budget of up to one billion baht to cover accommodation
and food costing 2,000 baht daily for each passenger, including Thais stranded
overseas.
"We are trying to facilitate their return with the opening of the Utapao
airport as the main gateway now, as well as adding more flights at the Phuket
and Chiang Mai international airports.
"This will help tourists and travellers to go to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur
and
Singapore to get connecting flights from there," he told a press conference at
the foreign ministry.
Speaking after a meeting with Olarn Chaipravat, the deputy prime minister
in
charge of economic affairs and Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat,
Sompong said Thailand had 26 airports nationwide but not all were up to
international standards.
Giving a bleak picture of the lucrative tourism industry, Sompong, who was
also initially stranded in Germany, said the number of tourist arrivals could
drop by 50 per cent next year, as compared to the estimated 13.5 million this
year.
The Suvarnabhumi Airport serves about 100 airlines with flights to 184
cities in 68 countries, handling 100,000 passengers daily, while Don Muang
serves domestic routes.
The crisis that stunned the nation and shocked the world looks likely to
continue after hundreds of protesters chased away a group of anti-riot policeman
who had blocked a road to the Suvarnabhumi Airport this morning, grabbing a
policeman who was kidnapped.
His fate is unknown as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) vowed to
battle until their last drop of blood, putting barbed wires, lorries and
airport luggage trolleys to block roads leading to the two airports.
Sompong said that if the airport shutdown continued, it would lead to about
one million workers in the tourism and related industries losing their jobs.
On the congestion at the Utapao Airport, which is a naval base located
about
140km from here, Sompong said efforts were being made to convert six hotels and
an exhibition centre in the capital as a city terminal to facilitate check-in of
passengers.
On the fate of the Asean Summit scheduled from Dec 13 to 18, he said the
Cabinet would decide whether to postpone or go ahead during its meeting on
Tuesday, admitting that Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam had asked the Asean
Secretariat to delay the annual gathering of the 10-member regional grouping and
its dialogue partners.
-- BERNAMA
