BANGKOK — More than 40,000 tourists stranded in Thailand by flight disruptions in the Middle East have safely returned home, aided by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand’s (CAAT) temporary approval for tour operators in originating countries to send charter flights to retrieve them, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced.

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Suladda Sarutilavan, executive director of Europe at TAT, said since the war erupted on February 28, TAT offices in Europe have received multiple requests from tour companies seeking coordination to assist their tourists stranded in Thailand and other countries, asking for support to escort their customers back home via Thai airports.

Regulatory Waiver

She said the agency contacted CAAT to relay tour companies’ difficulties in sending charter flights to Thailand due to regulations that prohibit charter flights from selling one-way tickets to tourists. Since March 3, CAAT responded to the request by granting temporary permission for chartered flights to operate empty aircraft to Thailand for evacuation. This order runs until March 14 to allow other companies to follow the same practice.

Case Examples

Ms. Suladda said this coordination originated from a case involving ITAKA, one of the largest tour operators in Poland, which contacted TAT’s Prague office for assistance with a group of 18 tourists traveling to Australia. The group was scheduled to return to Warsaw via Doha on February 28 but was unable to do so due to airspace closures. The tour company purchased tickets for the tourists to travel to Bangkok, then board a charter flight back to Warsaw.

Another case involved 315 tourists from Nordic countries stranded for more than a week across several destinations in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. TAT coordinated with CAAT to allow Sunclass Airlines of the Ving Group to send a charter flight to pick up the customers on March 8, and the tourists arrived in Copenhagen on March 9.

Thailand sends 40,000 stranded tourists homehttps://t.co/3276VVmcBV pic.twitter.com/dAE6po31FT

— Bangkok Post Learning (@post_learning) March 13, 2026

Ongoing Monitoring

Ms. Suladda said assistance efforts have continued since TAT activated the Tourism Crisis Monitoring Centre to track rising tensions in the Gulf region. However, it remains difficult to determine the actual number of tourists still stranded in Thailand, as some are individual travelers without agents and have not contacted hotels or authorities for help.

Hotel Response

Charintip Tiyaphorn, owner of Pimalai Resort and Spa on Koh Lanta, said her hotel already offered special room rates for guests stranded for three nights, and most of them have now been able to return home. The hotel is adjusting its plans for the upcoming Easter holiday in April, providing more flexible cancellations for guests affected by the war in the Middle East.

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She said the 2026 marketing approach for Europe must be revised to address travelers’ concerns in order to maintain as many bookings as possible. For instance, the hotel now has to offer full-refund cancellations five to seven days before arrival, instead of the usual 30 days, to accommodate uncertainty caused by the conflict.

-Thailand News (TN)