Thais urged to offer aid to Ukrainians

The Ukrainian community in Bangkok is calling on Thai people to help provide humanitarian assistance to war victims in Ukraine.

Coordinator Kykola Boichuk said on Thursday he would like to update the Thai public on the latest situation in his country so they can have a better grasp of the current state of affairs.

"Our group wants to send a key message that humanitarian assistance is still needed from Thai people to help the war victims [in Ukraine], especially with medical supplies," he said.

"Any interested people can make a donation, which the [Ukrainian] embassy will take to the needed sites," he said at a hotel in Bangkok after a live broadcast with people now serving in territorial defence units and helping support volunteer activities in Ukraine.

Evgeniy Moises, a volunteer in charge of evacuating vulnerable people from the war zone, said many people remain traumatised. Some have lived in their basements for the past week, too afraid to leave, he said.

"When asked why I could continue my job amid the crisis, I would say a word of thanks from those evacuees encourages me to keep doing it," he said.

"We could say the Ukrainians' unity and volunteering support from all over the world makes us move forward and strengthens our spiritual and physical health to keep going."

In Phuket, Pol Lt Col Anirut Pattarawiwat, an inspector at Phuket Immigration Office, said his office has already helped 1,830 Ukrainian and Russian tourists who have suffered as a result of the war, adding more people from those countries keep coming to Thailand, he said.

Authorities have helped provide free visa extensions, find cheap accommodation and set up a call centre to deal with their problems, he noted.

As of Sunday, 9,729 tourists had expressed a wish to stay longer in Phuket, including 8,545 Russians and 1,184 Ukrainians.