STOCKHOLM, Feb 1 (AFP) - Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will visit Thailand this month to show their gratitude for the hospitality shown to Swedes caught in the devastating tsunami that hit the country last December, the royal court said on Tuesday.
The royal couple will visit Thailand from February 17 to 19 "to personally present their thanks to (Thai) King Bhumibol and to the entire Thai nation for the sacrificial way that Swedish citizens were helped after the tidal wave catastrophe," the royal court said in a statement.
As many as 20,000 Swedes were vacationing in the Indian Ocean region, mainly in Thailand, when the December 26 tsunamis struck.
The number of Swedes missing was initially feared to be as high as 3,500 in the days following the disaster, but that number has been consistently whittled down, and last week police said only 569 names remained on its missing list.
Only the 15 Swedes who have been officially identified and who have been returned to the Scandinavian country figure on the police list of people killed in the catastrophe.
Sweden with its nine million inhabitants is one of the countries outside of Asia with the highest per capita death toll.
The royal couple will visit Thailand from February 17 to 19 "to personally present their thanks to (Thai) King Bhumibol and to the entire Thai nation for the sacrificial way that Swedish citizens were helped after the tidal wave catastrophe," the royal court said in a statement.
As many as 20,000 Swedes were vacationing in the Indian Ocean region, mainly in Thailand, when the December 26 tsunamis struck.
The number of Swedes missing was initially feared to be as high as 3,500 in the days following the disaster, but that number has been consistently whittled down, and last week police said only 569 names remained on its missing list.
Only the 15 Swedes who have been officially identified and who have been returned to the Scandinavian country figure on the police list of people killed in the catastrophe.
Sweden with its nine million inhabitants is one of the countries outside of Asia with the highest per capita death toll.