Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle today (12 April) commented in Berlin as follows on the situation in Thailand:

“The German Government is following developments in Thailand with grave concern. We call for calm and prudence on all sides, there must be no recurrence of the recent violence.

We appeal to all sides to resolve their political conflicts by peaceful means and through dialogue. The only way to resolve these conflicts is to talk to one another, violence can solve nothing.

For us the top priority now is the safety of visitors to Thailand, including of course German nationals in the country. At my request a meeting took place today here at the Federal Foreign Office to discuss the critical situation in Thailand.

On present reports, no German national has come to any harm during the unrest. For this reason we – like our European partners by the way and the United States – have not issued any warning as yet against travelling to Thailand.

Nevertheless, we strongly advise visitors to the country to avoid crowds and demonstrations. The demonstrations have not affected the tourist regions to date. We have posted travel and safety advice online which is regularly updated and urge all travellers to check our website for the latest information.”