Sanctions against Qatar not affecting Thai-Qatari relations

 

 

BANGKOK, 7 June 2017 (NNT) - Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai said the decision by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to cut ties with Qatar will not affect the relations between Thailand and Qatar. 

According to the minister, the four Middle Eastern nations have decided to boycott Qatar over accusations of supporting extremism. 

However, he claimed, the move will not hamper the Thai-Qatari relations as the matter does not concern Thailand. 

The boycott has however affected some Thai exports and Thai citizens residing in Qatar as air and land travels between the country and the four Middle-Eastern nations have been banned.

Don further stated that Thailand, as a coordinator, may have to reschedule the meeting between ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council late this year if the situation does not improve. 

He also hoped the current situation would eventually return to normal. 

As for the United States' invitation for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to visit the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce are currently in the process of organizing the trip and determining the issues which will discussed between the Thai prime minister and US President Donald Trump. 

Don also urged Thai people planning to travel to England this time around to avoid crowded places following the recent attacks. However, he believed British authorities would be able to keep the situation under control. 

Regarding a shooting rampage in Florida, he said no Thai nationals were harmed in the incident.

 

-- nnt 2017-06-07

2 hours ago, webfact said:

According to the minister, the four Middle Eastern nations have decided to boycott Qatar over accusations of supporting extremism. 

However, he claimed, the move will not hamper the Thai-Qatari relations as the matter does not concern Thailand. 

So a State that supports extremism does not concern Teflon Thailand?

10 minutes ago, BigBadGeordie said:

So a State that supports extremism does not concern Teflon Thailand?

Him lich klab....

3 hours ago, webfact said:

However, he claimed, the move will not hamper the Thai-Qatari relations as the matter does not concern Thailand.

 'This does not concern me' is, I believe, what the ostrich says before burying its head into the sand.

Of course this will not affect relations with Thailand. They are not supporters of human rights, they are not concerned with censorship, since they engage in it to an extreme degree at home, and they do not support elections. It all makes sense. Surprised Thailand is not more chummy with North Korea. 

Ruskies may be at it again... http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/russian-hackers-planted-fake-news-qatar-crisis/index.html?sr=fbCNN060617russian-hackers-planted-fake-news-qatar-crisis1028PMStoryLink&linkId=38427149

The irony of course is that states everyone knows support terrorism are accusing one of the club of doing the same. Obviously their little spat isn't about that at all, more likely related to gas. Not really Thailand's business, doing the right thing keeping out of it.

We already knew before this statement that the Qatar situation would not affect Thailand.  Nothing ever does!  However, later on, if any of Thailand's targets are not met, Qatar will receive its share of the blame as did Brexit, which was initially stated categorically as having no effect on teflon Thailand.

Tourist arrivals from Qatar are expected to quadruple  in the coming months and spending per head is expected to be around $10 million.

Wow, I'm sure Qatar is relieved about that