Curfew exemptions, social media restrictions and airport situation update from TAT

On Thursday night Col. Winthai Suwaree the Deputy Spokesman of the Royal Thai Army announced some exceptions to the 10pm – 5am curfew that include travelers arriving or departing to or from the country, shift workers, delivery personnel handling cold storage and short life goods, patients en route to hospitals and humanitarian workers. Others who need to travel during curfew hours must ask permission from army officers.

All academic institutions both public and private were told to close on Friday through to Sunday. In one of a series of bulletins on national television laying out new restrictions after declaring the military coup the Thai army has ruled that it will block any social media platforms found to be carrying content that incites violence or is critical of its military leaders.

Coup leaders had earlier ordered all television and radio stations to suspend their usual programmes and show only the army’s broadcasts in the wake of a coup. The step was taken to ensure the release of “accurate news to the people,” an army spokesman said in a televised announcement. Between the bulletins, a static screen was shown depicting the emblems of the various branches of Thailand’s armed forces, as patriotic Thai songs played.

The Tourist Authority of Thailand announced that all airports in Thailand remain open, and air passengers with arrival and departure flights scheduled during the curfew can travel to and from the airports at any time as usual. However, Tourists with arrival and departure flights during the curfew are advised to prepare all travel documents when travelling to and from the airports.

In the meantime, tourists can contact the following numbers for information and assistance:

 

TAT Call Centre 1672

Tourist Police Call Centre 1155

Traffic Police Call Centre 1197

BMTA (city bus and van service) Call Centre 1348

BTS Hotline +66 (0) 2617 6000

MRT Customer Relations Center +66 (0) 2624 5200

SRT (train service) Call Centre 1690

Transport Co., Ltd., (inter-provincial bus service) Call Centre 1490

AOT (Suvarnabhumi Airport) Call Centre 1722

Suvarnabhumi Airport Operation Centre (temporary) +66 (0) 2132 9950 or 2

Don Mueang Airport Call Centre +66 (0) 2535 3861, (0) 2535 3863

Thai Airways International Call Centre +66 (0) 2356 1111

Bangkok Airways Call Centre 1771

Nok Air Call Centre 1318

Thai AirAsia Call Centre +66 (0) 2515 9999

Issued at Bangkok at 19.00 hrs. (GMT+7) on 22 May 2014

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