Foreign Ministry Asks Iranians to Cancel Unnecessary Thailand Visits
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Monday asked the country's nationals to avoid unnecessary visits to Thailand given the ongoing crisis in the country.
Bangkok is gripped with turbulence as anti-government demonstrations are staged in Thailand with protestors trying to unseat Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
In a statement, the Iranian foreign ministry pointed to the upcoming new Iranian year (starts on March 21), and growing advertisements by travel agencies to attract Iranian tourists to Thailand, and asked Iranians to avoid travelling to the Southeast Asian country until the calm is restored.
"Given the declaration of the state of emergency in Thailand and continued unrest in some part of the country, we remind security guidelines for Iranian nationals residing in that country and advise them (nationals) to avoid unnecessary visit to Thailand," the statement said.
Most of the hotels usually booked by Iranian travel agencies are close to Lumpini Park in Bangkok where most of the protestors gather.
In the latest development, anti-government protesters in Thailand have retreated to a central Bangkok park, freeing up traffic after blocking big intersections for more than a month, but Thailand's four-month political crisis looks no closer to a solution.
The protesters, who moved to Lumpini Park over the weekend after orders from protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, are now banking on judicial intervention from courts hostile to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to bring down her government.
Demonstrators seeking to overthrow Yingluck took to the streets in November and have since blockaded ministries, occupied government offices and, in January, set up camp at major traffic intersections in Bangkok.
They want Yingluck to resign to make way for an appointed "people's council" to overhaul a political system they say has been taken hostage by her billionaire brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Yingluck faces several legal challenges, the most significant being negligence charges for mishandling a disastrous rice subsidy scheme.
The scheme paid farmers above the market price and has run out of funds, prompting farmers - normally the prime minister's biggest supporters - to demonstrate in Bangkok.
