Foreign Ministry trying to reach Thais in quake-hit zone

BANGKOK, 15 March 2011 (NNT) – The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs still cannot contact most of the Thai nationals residing in Miyagi and Sendai after partial Japan was struck by an 8.9 magnitude and a deadly tsunami attack.

According to Information Department Director-General and Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Thani Thongphakdi, the Thai embassy in Tokyo so far has been able to contact only 20 out of about 250-300 Thai people in Miyagi.

In addition, there are 70 Thai people in Sendai expressing their intention to the embassy to evacuate to Tokyo.

There are totally about 42,000 Thai people in Japan, 22,000 of whom are residing in 11 provinces affected by the quake and tsunami. The Thai embassy in Tokyo has so far been able to contact about 10,000 people in the latter group, all of whom are confirmed safe.

No reports are available on the fate of the rest of Thai people in the affected zone. The embassy has established assistance centers in locations frequented by Thais such as Thai restaurants.