Four Thais seek help to leave violence-plagued Yemen

BANGKOK, March 31 (TNA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that four Thai nationals have already sought their departure from Yemen and 189 other Thais have, thus, remained in the violence-plagued Arab nation, as evacuation to Oman has been set to be done mainly by land. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sek Wannamethee, who is also Director-General of the ministry's Department of Information, told journalists on Tuesday that a total of 193 Thai nationals had been in Yemen, most of them are students, but four of them had already informed the Thai Embassy to Oman of their intention to return to Thailand, as the Thai Embassy in Muscat, Oman's capital, is in charge of Thailand's affairs in Oman. Sek said that the remaining 189 Thai people in Yemen live in many cities located far from battlefields, including Yarim, Mukalla, Hajjah, Aden, Hudaydah and Sana'a. According to the spokesman, the Thai Embassy in Muscat will deploy officials to facilitate the evacuation of Thai nationals near the Oman-Yemen border and in Yemeni cities where Thai students will gather, while the Thai Embassy to Saudi Arabia will support the mission. The spokesman stated that, as Thailand does not have an embassy in Yemen, Bangkok is assigning Thai embassies in other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and allied Arab states to seek help from the countries the Thai embassies are stationed to provide assistance to Thai citizens in Yemen. If the situation in Yemen worsens, the spokesman noted, Thai authorities will urge Thai people in the crisis-stricken country to evacuate for the sake of their safety. (TNA)