Anti-govt protesters in Libya loot Thai workers' camps

Udon Thani native Buariwan Meechart said her husband Pranit was among a group of Thai workers stranded at a location where there was only one meal of rice soup served each day, after he and fellow workers fled their camp.

Another Udon Thani native, Pan Khanthaphaet, the mother of an unnamed Thai worker, said her son called her after Libyans robbed him of his belongings while he was driving.

"My son pleaded for his life and he was lucky that the robbers did not find his phone hidden in a trouser pocket, so he could call me," she said.

Kanthalas Prakobmitr, a Nakhon Ratchasima native, said a camp where her husband worked had been overrun by rioters. He had not called her since Tuesday, due to the lack of mobile-phone signal.

At another work camp that housed 156 Thai workers, more than 1,000 rioters looted belongings and food. The Thais contacted relatives in Thailand asking to be evacuated and immediately issued with replacement travel documents after they were destroyed in fires started by the rioters.

Unruen Bunsanong, the wife of a worker at the camp, said the Korean employer promised to transport all workers by truck to an Egyptian border town at around noon yesterday. She was unable to confirm if the group had made it to Egypt.

There are 23,600 Thais working in Libya. They will have to be evacuated over land and sea, since Libyan airspace has been closed by the government.

The largest contingent of Thai workers in Libya - more than 2,000 people - are from Nakhon Ratchasima, while Udon Thani natives make up the second largest portion, with 1,703.

The Labour Ministry, working with 30 employers, has chartered four ships, each carrying a minimum of 1,400 people, to evacuate all Thai workers to Malta. The ships are now docked at Tripoli and Benghazi, where 9,000 Thais are staying after fleeing from their camps.

The journey from Benghazi to Malta takes 14 hours, while from Tripoli it takes 12 hours, said Suphoj Bunjaroen, director-general of the Department of Employment. "The decision on when the evacuation begins rests with the Foreign Ministry," he said.

Deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Jessada Katawethin said the ministry was almost ready to order the evacuation, which had been prolonged because it was verifying employment contracts with Thai and foreign employers to prevent possibly breaches of contract.

The Foreign Ministry is also working with authorities in Greece and Italy to secure permission to use a number of Libyan seaports owned by companies based in both countries in the sea evacuation. The workers will be transferred from Malta to the two countries, from where they will be flown back to Thailand, with possible visa leniency during the evacuation.

A number of Thai Airways planes and two Royal Thai Air Force C-130 cargo planes are ready to carry out aerial evacuations, but the military aircraft has a seven-hour fuel limit. A trip to Libya takes at least 18 hours.

"Each C-130 can carry around 90 to 110 passengers. The aerial evacuation will soon be decided and finalised by the government," Jessada said.

More than 3,000 Thais went to work in Libya last year alone. There are 33,000 Thais working in the Middle East, sending home remittances of more than Bt55 billion each year, according to a Labour Ministry report.

The Labour Ministry has set up a call-centre service, available on 085-481-0243-5 around the clock, in addition to its regular service on 1694. As of yesterday, 300 calls had been made. The situation in Libya is being constantly updated on TGN5, a 24-hour satellite channel operated by Army-run Channel 5.