Thai Embassy in Poland preparing to evacuate Thai citizens from Ukraine

The Thai Embassy in Poland says it’s making preparations to evacuate Thai nationals from Ukraine as a result of the escalating tensions with Russia. A spokesman for the embassy in Warsaw says officials have created a special Line group with which to communicate with 250 Thai citizens living in Ukraine. The embassy is preparing to evacuate them to safe houses in Poland or back to Thailand.

The embassy says that between February 13 and 15, the Thai ambassador to Poland, Chettaphan Maksamphan, accompanied by embassy staff, travelled to the city of Lviv, in western Ukraine, around 70 kilometres from the Polish border. It’s understood the trip was in preparation for using Lviv as a base for getting Thai people out of Ukraine. Nation Thailand reports that the delegation met with the manager of Lviv International Airport, planned the route from Lviv to Warsaw, and checked hotels, restaurants and Covid-19 testing centres in the city.

On February 13, the embassy, as well as the Department of Consular Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a warning to Thai people to avoid travel to Ukraine unless strictly necessary. Officials also asked Thai people already in Ukraine to monitor the situation closely.

This was followed by another statement on February 22, in which the Department of Consular Affairs repeated its warning to Thai citizens not to travel to Ukraine as a result of escalating tensions in the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk. The following day, embassy officials held virtual meetings with representatives of Thai restaurant workers across various Ukrainian cities, to address the concerns of the Thai community in the country.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand