The Tourism Crisis Management Office is closely watching the situation in Thailand and will activate its contingency procedures once the need arises, according to the Office.

Due to the state of emergency in Thailand, the Office has been maintaining close contact with the travel industry to keep track of Macao tourists travelling in Thailand. There are six tour groups from Macao comprising about 200 people that are now travelling in Thailand. Among them, one tour group with 21 people has left Bangkok for Macao this afternoon and is expected to arrive in Macao this evening. The remaining five groups are expected to fly back to Macao in the following two days according to their original itinerary.

The Office is unable to get the exact number of Macao tourists travelling independently in Thailand at the moment. However, it has requested the four mobile network operators in Macao to relay the relevant information to local residents travelling outside the territory if needed.

For enquiries or requests for assistance, people may call the Office’s 24-hour hotline at (853) 2833 3000.

According to the Office, since airports in Thailand are functioning normally and local tour groups have not been greatly affected, the current situation in Thailand does not constitute a tourism emergency. Nonetheless, the Office will continue to maintain a close watch on the events unfolding so as to respond correspondingly.

The Office has received 8 enquiries so far and has handled a request for help in contacting a relative travelling in Thailand.