Nearly 170 Thai nationals will return home on a mercy flight from Auckland tomorrow. Photo / Stock
Nearly 170 Thai nationals will return home on a mercy flight from Auckland tomorrow. Photo / Stock
After more than a month being stuck in his Auckland room because of the coronavirus lockdown, Thai student Nitipong Phuttim, 25, is thrilled to be finally going home.
Phuttim is one of 168 Thai nationals who will fly home from Auckland tomorrow on a mercy flight organised by the Thai government.
Thai student Nitipong Phuttim says he has had the best time in NZ despite the Covid-19 outbreak. Photo / Supplied
When he left Thailand to study English in Queenstown last October, he never imagined there would be a global pandemic and that restrictions from his home country would prevent him from returning.
"Coming to New Zealand is like a dream, I never thought something like this can happen," Phuttim said.
NZ Thai Society President Songvut Manoonpong is helping the Thai Embassy with its mercy flight effort. Photo / File
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand banned inbound flights until April 18 because many previous returnees were infected with Covid-19, and posed the risk of spreading the disease to local residents.
Returnees, including Thai nationals, are required to have a "fit-to-fly" health certificate and may also have to undergo rapid tests before boarding planes.
A "fit-to-fly" certification is a letter issued by the Thai embassy, a health insurance policy that covers Covid-19 and a doctor's note, signed no later than 72 hours before the passenger boards their flight.
Phuttim said when he got news of borders tightening up, he tried to figure out how to go home but could not because of the difficulty in getting the health certificate and flights being cancelled.
So he decided to wait it out in Auckland where he is now staying in his "bubble" with two other Thai nationals. Phuttim said he paid about $2800 to get a ticket on the mercy flight.
Despite the Covid-19 outbreak, Phuttim said he had "the best time" in New Zealand.
"I will have many happy memories here and I've had the best time in New Zealand," he said.
"I am very excited that I am finally going home, but my dream is to come back again to this beautiful country after the pandemic is over."
NZ Thai Society president Songvut Manoonpong, who is helping the Thai Embassy here to co-ordinate the flight, said a few hundred Thai nationals had been stranded here.
"Many of them are Thai students, tourists and temporary workers, but this flight will also give people who need to urgently return to Thailand a chance to do so," Manoonpong said.
He said the Auckland-based general manager and airport manager of Thai Airways would also be on the Thai Airways flight which departs from Auckland at 1.30pm tomorrow.
According to its website, the Thai national carrier said it was suspending all flights to and from New Zealand between March 25 and May 31, 2020, because of the coronavirus outbreak.
