The government is planning to evacuate Thai nationals from Sudan as soon as possible via the nearest airports, including Cairo airport in Egypt and the American Air Force Base in Djibouti.
According to deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek, the decision was made during talks led by National Security Council secretary-general Supoj Malaniyom, on Saturday.
As the security situation around Khartoum airport cannot be guaranteed, airports in neighbouring countries, including Djibouti, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, would be deployed to launch evacuation flights.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will coordinate with authorities to arrange evacuation flights, Ms Rachada said, while the Royal Thai Air Force will provide an aircraft to evacuate a first batch of 91 Thai-Muslims, including those from the deep South, directly from Sudan.
The flight will depart as soon as authorities are able to negotiate a secure flight path in and out of Sudan, she said, adding the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) will be in charge of the repatriation of the students, including the transfer of their study credits from their schools.
Ms Rachada added the SBPAC will set up a unit to assist the students in Sudan and their families in Thailand through the ministry. Families can contact the unit by dialling the 1880 hotline.
Ms Ratchada also said Gen Supoj has asked authorities to adopt a crisis approach in carrying out the evacuation.
There are about 300 Thais living in Sudan, about 200 of whom are university students, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
On Saturday, a Thai student in Sudan said a bomb fell near an air-raid shelter. The student wants the government to speed up help as fighting is intensifying and food is scarce.
Intense clashes erupted in Sudan on April 15 between forces allied with two generals -- army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) -- who jointly seized power in a 2021 coup.
The World Health Organization said more than 420 people had been killed and over 3,700 wounded in the fighting across Sudan.
So far, the United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Saudi Arabia have begun evacuating their citizens.
