Countries around the world are warning their citizens to be wary of making any non-essential trips to Thailand’s capital Bangkok in the wake of this weekend’s violence. 21 people have been confirmed dead and hundreds injured after anti-government protesters clashed with the Thai army.

A state of emergency was declared in Bangkok last week by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in the run up to this weekend’s protests. The violence was the most deadly to be seen in the Thai capital for nearly 20-years.

In an interview yesterday Australia’s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith asked all Australian nationals in Thailand to steer well clear of any protests. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow has also told Russians to put off any travel to Bangkok until the situation is properly stabilised.

South Korea has told its citizens to exercise caution if they visit Bangkok and the Dutch authorities said they would advise people to keep away from the capital if their business was not essential. The same advice was issued by France, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.

Japan told its citizens planning to travel to Thailand to get the most up-to-date information available before doing so. One of the victims of the weekend’s violence was Japanese photojournalist Hiro Muramato who died from a shot to the chest. Japan has urged all of its nationals in Thailand to keep away from Bangkok.

One of the victims of the bloodshed is likely to be the Thai tourism industry. Figures released by the Tourism Authority of Thailand already show that the number of visitors from other Asian countries is down by 12.5 percent on last year. President of the Thai Travel Agents Association, Charoen Wangananont warned that after this weekend tourism would sink once more.