EU calls for 'democratic order' in Thailand, tourists warned
Paris - European governments, airlines and travel companies expressed concern Tuesday at the military coup in Thailand, with the European Union demanding an immediate return to "democratic order."
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said Thailand needed to "revert to democratic order without delay.""It is highly regrettable that democratic institutions seem to have been taken over by military force," he said in a statement. The EU appeal came after Thailand's army chief said he had seized control in a coup and ousted controversial Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is now in New York. France urged some 6,000 French citizens resident in Bangkok to "stay indoors," according to the foreign ministry here. "We are following the situation closely," the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that hotels in Bangkok had been contacted to pass on the information to French guests. Herman van Gelderen, spokesman for Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, said the minister was "very worried" but could not comment further for want of information. The Netherlands main airline, KLM, said it had made no changes to its flights to Bangkok for the moment, as the situation in the Thai capital appeared to be calm. Britons traveling to Bangkok or who are already there should monitor all available information and avoid large crowds and demonstrations, the British Foreign Office said. France's national Travel Agents union said it had set up a crisis committee and was in contact with the foreign and tourism ministries in Paris. Rene-Marc Chikli, chairman of the Association of French Tour Operators said some 5,000 French tourists were currently on package holidays in the southeast Asian country, famous for its hill treks, nightlife and beaches. "The situation is calm," he stressed. "Tour operators have made contact with hotels to check that tourists are safe." The Scandinavian airline SAS said it would maintain regular services to Bangkok. "On the basis of the information we have we can do this quite safely," Jens Langergaard of SAS-Denmark told AFP. He noted that SAS had served Thailand in times of crisis before and had not encountered any problems. A spokesman for Finnair told the Finnish news agency FNB that the company was "constantly monitoring the situation", adding: "For now everything is operating normally." Thailand's armed forces said Tuesday they had ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup and imposed martial law to restore order after months of political turmoil. Troops and tanks surrounded the offices of Thaksin, who was out of the country at the United Nations, while military leaders said they had suspended the constitution and the government. Agence France Presse
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