Some 236 Thai nationals are seeking immediate evacuation out of Ukraine amid attacks by the advancing Russian military forces, the Foreign Ministry osaid.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat on Saturday said the ministry has an evacuation plan ready, with an operation centre set up in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, which will serve as a temporary shelter for Thais.
"Some 236 Thais have requested immediate evacuation," Mr Tanee said, adding another 12 Thais were fleeing from the capital Kyiv, making their way towards Lviv on their own on Saturday.
Under the plan, Thai embassy officials in Warsaw, capital of neighbouring Poland, have been sent to Ukraine to help Thais fleeing cities under Russian military attack, Mr Tanee said.
There, the officials are working on coordinating with Ukrainian authorities to assist Thais seeking evacuation, he said.
"Lviv serves as a base where [Thais] are gathered and transported further across the [Polish] border to Warsaw before they will be flown back to Thailand," Mr Tanee said.
Lviv is about 400 kilometres away from Warsaw, he said, with overland travel time estimated to be 6 to 7 hours.
Three embassy officials arrived in Lviv on Friday and have set up the centre to assist Thais, according to a post on its Facebook page on Saturday.
On Saturday, there were 10 Thais with Ukrainian spouses sheltering at the centre, with about 20-30 more Thais from several Ukrainian cities saying they were heading there in their cars or on trains, the embassy said.
There are a total of 253 Thais in Ukraine, and most of them are spa workers or massage therapists, according to the MFA.
The Thai embassy in Warsaw previously said it had prepared routes for evacuation of Thais from Ukrainian cities to Lviv, and arranged for vehicles and trains to take them to the city safely.
A bus was also arranged to transport 49 Thai people from the south-western city of Odessa to Lviv on Saturday, the embassy said.
Col Wanchana Sawasdee, deputy spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said the Royal Thai Air Force will also send three C-130 transport aircraft to support the evacuation of Thais for a safe return to Thailand.
When they arrive back in Thailand, they will be taken to a quarantine facility in Chon Buri's Sattahip district under the care of the Royal Thai Navy, Col Wanchana said.
Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has monitored the situation in Ukraine closely.
The prime minister instructed state agencies, particularly the Energy Ministry, the Commerce Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Board of Investment and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, to follow the potential impacts of the Ukraine conflict.
They were told to study the impact on prices of energy, consumer goods, inflation and currency exchange, and devise measures to ensure the negative effects are minimal, Mr Thanakorn said.
