Qantas says it will help Australians eager to leave Bangkok after the weekend’s explosion, which killed at least 20 people and injured 120 others.
The airline is giving travellers with a valid ticket issued on or before 17 August 2015 travelling to and from Bangkok on or after 18 August to 25 August, the option to change their booking to an earlier flight.
Travellers with tickets to fly to Bangkok in the same period listed above, can opt to change their destination or get a credit on their unused tickets.
Singapore Airlines said it will also waive fees for customers looking to rebook or reroute confirmed tickets scheduled to arrive or depart Bangkok before 17 September 2015.
Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) continues to work closely with Thai authorities after a second bomb was detonated in water below Taksin Bridge in central Bangkok.
The second explosion went off yesterday, no injuries were reported. It came a little over a day after Bangkok’s initial explosion near the Erawan shrine at Chidlom in central Bangkok.
Despite the incident, DFAT has maintained its ‘exercise a high degree of caution’ advice for the destination.
The government agency warned Australians to ‘remain vigilant in public spaces’ and to monitor media for latest information.
Analyst: Bangkok blast is the equivalent of bombing Times Square http://t.co/JU6m1yTr7M pic.twitter.com/EO5NNKNCIZ
— CNN International (@cnni) August 17, 2015
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the bomb, however, Thailand’s Defence Minister believes it was a direct attack to damage the country’s vital tourism industry.
In 2013, tourism directly contributed nine percent or THB1 trillion to Thailand’s economy.
Some 24 million tourists visited the destination last year, 831,000 were from Australia.
“It was a TNT bomb … the people who did it targeted foreigners and to damage tourism and the economy.”
Prawit Wongsuwong
Thai police say they have video footage of their key suspect leaving a backpack in the Erawan Hindu shrine.
The footage from a CCTV camera, shows a man in a yellow shirt, glasses, sneakers and sweat bands wrapped around his wrist.