RP tourists urged to defer unnecessary trips to Bangkok

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) echoed a message to Filipino tourists on Wednesday to postpone “non-essential" travel to Thailand after Thai protesters took over the country’s main airport.

Quoting an advisory from the Philippine Embassy in Thailand, DFA spokesperson Claro Cristobal said Filipino tourists should not push through with their travel plans unless necessary.

As this developed, local airline company Cebu Pacific, said it has cancelled all flights to the troubled nation. (see related story here.)

“In consideration of the Filipino travelers’ safety and convenience … (we) recommend that non-essential travel to Bangkok be postponed," Cristobal said in a text message.

Thousands of Thai protesters took over Suvarnabhumi Airport in the country’s capital of Bangkok on Tuesday in an effort to halt the return of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, whom they accuse of being the puppet of a ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra.

Wongsawat was scheduled to return late Wednesday from an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru and would land at a military airport, officials told the Associated Press in a report.

A Philippine official said the civil unrest has no sign of simmering down just yet as anti-government forces moved unopposed in Thailand, having the upper hand of the situation.

A source quoted by the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok said there are 10,000 Filipinos all over the Southeast Asian kingdom working mostly as teachers, entertainers, hotel workers, and employees of various international organizations like the UN. An estimated 5,000 Filipinos, including permanent residents, stay in Bangkok.

Filipino tourists requiring assistance or further information are advised to contact the Philippine embassy in Bangkok at (+662) 2590139 to 40.

Malacañang, meanwhile, expressed confidence that the Filipinos’ “political maturity" would prevent them from replicating the Bangkok protests.

“That's a very remote scenario. Our people have reached a high degree of political maturity whereby our people respects due process and the rule of law," deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said. - GMANews.TV

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