The second group of 132 Thais being evacuated from Sudan, many of them students, arrived safety in Bangkok last night (Saturday) on a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) flight, bringing total evacuees to 213 to date.

Two Chinese nationals and one Indonesian arrived on the same flight from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. All were met at the airport by Air Force Commander-in-Chief ACM Alongkorn Wannarat.

The new arrivals were checked by public health officials for respiratory diseases before they were taken to their hotel for an overnight stay. Those who were found to be ill are being treated accordingly.

Since most of the new arrivals live in southern Thailand, the RTAF has arranged a C-130 transport plane to fly them to Pattani province tomorrow.

The next group of evacuees is expected to arrive in Bangkok on another RTAF flight on Monday.

One of the returnees, Mustafakim Jehni, said that he had been in Sudan for about 12 years and he opened a Thai restaurant and spa in Khartoum. He said that the situation in Sudan is now so bad that he decided to leave because of the endless fighting.

He recalled that, on the journey from Khartoum to the Port of Sudan, he had to pass through several armed checkpoints, but they didn’t hurt the evacuees, adding that he and the others had to wait at the port for two days before they could board a ship for Jeddah.