Stranded Buddhist monks & tourists return to Thailand by chartered plane

More than 170 Buddhist monks and tourists from Thailand, who were stranded here due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown, returned to their own country in a chartered flight on Friday, officials said.

After getting the nod from the Central government, a chartered plane landed at Gaya airport on Friday and flew to Thailand with 171 Buddhist monks and tourists who were stranded at Gaya following the lockdown, Gaya Airport Director Dilip Kumar said.

These tourists and Buddhist monks had come to visit the Buddhist circuit of Gaya, Rajgir, Varanasi, Kushinagar, Vaishali before the lockdown was announced but got stranded due to the shutdown, officials said, adding that they were staying at Bodhgayas Thailand monastery and in different hotels of Bodhgaya.