Iranian foreign ministry issues travel alert on visits to Thailand

The Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement on Monday warned the country’s nationals to avoid taking unnecessary trips to Thailand. The warning came in the wake of growing anti-government protests in Thailand, where demonstrators have for months pushed for the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whom they accuse of being influenced by her tycoon brother Thaksin, a former prime minister. “This is to inform the Iranian nationals that due to the emergency conditions in Thailand and prolonged unrests in some parts of that country they are recommended to avoid unnecessary travels to the Southeast Asian nation until the conditions are back to normal in there,” the statement said. It noted that most of the hotels in Bangkok where Iranians are residing are located near the areas where clashes erupt between the protesters and the police. Also, elaborating on other causes of issuing the travel alert, the statement said Iranians go shopping without considering the extent of the unrests in Thailand, implying that they might be entangled in demonstrations unwillingly. This is while Thailand held a rerun of its widely disrupted general elections. The government decided to re-run the vote after anti-government protesters obstructed the elections in 18 constituencies on February 2. The re-run was held in five provinces. The Elections commission said the final results will not be released sooner than April. For months Thailand has been the scene of anti-government protests. The protesters want Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and its administration to step down. Opponents see her as a proxy for her elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister toppled in a military coup in 2006.