{"id":326187,"date":"2026-04-17T16:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T08:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=326187"},"modified":"2026-04-17T16:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T08:34:14","slug":"first-group-of-341-thai-pilgrims-depart-for-holy-land-on-april-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=326187","title":{"rendered":"First Group Of 341 Thai Pilgrims Depart For Holy Land On April 18"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-17-at-1.19.32-PM-1024x640.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-326188\" srcset=\"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-17-at-1.19.32-PM-1024x640.jpeg 1024w, http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-17-at-1.19.32-PM-300x188.jpeg 300w, http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-17-at-1.19.32-PM-768x480.jpeg 768w, http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-17-at-1.19.32-PM.jpeg 1110w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><small>By Tuwaedaniya Meringing<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SONGKHLA, April 17 (NNN-Bernama) &#8212;\u00a0The first group of 341 Thai pilgrims is scheduled to depart for the Holy Land on Saturday morning (April 18) via a Saudi Airlines special charter flight from Hat Yai International Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Songkhla Deputy Governor Ramadon Awae said a total of 7,039 pilgrims from Thailand have received approval from Saudi Arabia to perform the Haj&nbsp;pilgrimage this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOf that number, 4,668 pilgrims will depart from southern Thailand via Hat Yai International Airport, while the rest will leave from airports in Bangkok and Phuket,\u201d he told reporters after a visit to Hat Yai International Airport here on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Ramadon, tensions in West Asia&nbsp;have led the Thai government to switch its airline service from Thai Airways to Saudi Airlines as a safety measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo avoid air routes passing through conflict zones in West Asia, we have coordinated with the Saudi Embassy in Bangkok before deciding to use Saudi Airlines this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSaudi Airlines provides direct flights that do not pass through the airspace of conflict areas. We want to ensure that all pilgrims can perform the Haj&nbsp;safely, including their journeys to and from the Holy Land,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ramadon said a total of 26 special flights have been arranged by Saudi Airlines this year, operating from April 18 to May 20 and from June 1 to June 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also advised all pilgrims to arrive early at the airport to avoid congestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDuring the Haj&nbsp;season, more than 8,000 family members are expected to visit the airport each day. Therefore, all pilgrims are advised to arrive early,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8212;\u00a0NNN-BERNAMA\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Tuwaedaniya Meringing SONGKHLA, April 17 (NNN-Bernama) &#8212;\u00a0The first group of 341 Thai pilgrims is scheduled to depart for the Holy Land on Saturday morning (April 18) via a Saudi Airlines special charter flight from Hat Yai International Airport. Songkhla Deputy Governor Ramadon Awae said a total of 7,039 pilgrims from Thailand have received approval [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":326188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[215,316],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326187"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=326187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326189,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326187\/revisions\/326189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/326188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=326187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=326187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=326187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}