BANGKOK, March 1 — Thailand is readying to evacuate its citizens from the Middle East by military or charter flights, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Sunday, after the US and Israel attacked Iran – which answered with its own missile strikes.
The government has “coordinated with the Royal Thai Air Force to prepare aircraft to evacuate Thai citizens, prioritising those in Iran”, Anutin told reporters in Bangkok, adding that charter flights were also under consideration.
“We have to check the closure of airspace, whether we need to evacuate them to the third country first,” he added.
Anutin said there were tens of thousands of Thai workers in the region, citing the labour ministry.
Nearly 59,000 Thais were registered with Thailand’s labour office in Israel, and more than 11,000 were registered with Thailand’s labour office in Abu Dhabi – which covers the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Iran, according to the ministry.
“The Thai government will do everything to bring Thai citizens back safely. If they want to return, we will take them back,” Anutin said.
The United States and Israel began launching waves of strikes against Iran on Saturday, sparking swift retaliation by the Islamic republic.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to continue striking Iran until its government falls.
Iranian state television confirmed the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday, after Trump said he had been killed.
Fresh explosions were heard in Doha, Dubai and Manama on Sunday.
Amid the bombardments, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, the UAE and Israel all have closed their airspaces to civilian traffic, at least in part, and multiple airlines cancelled flights to and from the region. — AFP
