Four nations lift travel alerts | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

Four countries have revoked their travel warnings for Thailand, issued earlier this month amid fears of a possible terrorist attack, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

The four countries were Israel, China, France and Germany, said Jesda Katavetin, deputy director-general of the ministry's Department of Information.

Israel and China had totally cancelled their terrorism warnings, while France and Germany revised their threat advisories to cover only the Islamic militant insurgency in the country's lower South, he said.

Israel was the first country to issue an alert to its citizens after Thai police arrested Atris Hussein, a suspected Hizbollah member, at Suvarnabhumi airport on Jan 12.

Initially it was believed that terrorist groups might be planning attacks on sites frequented by foreigners in Bangkok. Subsequent investigations uncovered a cache of bomb-making materials outside the capital and officials said they had been destined for another country.

Travel advisories issued by 18 other foreign embassies including the United States remained in effect, Mr Jesda said, adding that he hoped the revocation by Israel would encourage other countries to lift or reduce their warnings soon.

The US travel announcement appeared only on the website of the US Embassy in Bangkok, not on the US Department of State's website. 

Washington did not prohibit its citizens from travelling to the kingdom, Mr Jesda said.