Thailand has decided to speed up the repatriation of its citizens in Israel to 800 per day, by increasing the number of flights to three a day from Monday, according to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Two flights will be direct and the third via Dubai, which will be the transit point for Thais flown out of Tel Aviv to board charter flights arriving from Thailand.
The Thai Foreign Ministry has asked Thais who have registered for repatriation with the embassy in Tel Aviv, but have changed their mind, to notify the embassy in advance of their scheduled departure, so officials can manage passenger loading effectively.
Two more flights from Israel are due to arrive in Bangkok today (Saturday), carrying a total of 534 Thai evacuees. They are an Arkia Airline flight landing at about 2pm carrying 214 and a Spice Jet flight arriving at about 4pm with 320 Thai returnees.
The Royal Thai Air Force’s third evacuation flight is scheduled to depart Thailand at 1.30pm today for Israel and is due back tomorrow at 1.40pm with 140 Thais on board. Another El AI flight, carrying 311 Thais, is expected to arrive on the same day.
The Thai Foreign Ministry gave an update yesterday on Thai hostages being held by Hamas, saying that two more Thais were abducted, bringing the total number being held to 19.
