OAG Travel News

British holidaymakers trying to return home have been stranded in Bangkok after the country's main airport was occupied by anti-government protesters.

With all flights in and out of the Thai capital cancelled, around 3,000 passengers are crowding the $4 billion terminal, a regional hub and the gateway for 40 million passengers a year.

Amid scenes of chaos, tourists camped on the airport floors complained they'd had nothing to eat or drink since the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) stormed the airport late night. Today, the protesters took over the control tower and said airlines would have to ask permission from them to land.

Tourists complained that check-in and other staff had run away as soon as the demonstrators swarmed into the airport, and restaurants and shops had closed their doors.

William Wilson, an English apartment manager who lives in Brisbane, said no-one could tell him what he should do. "I should have stayed in bed," he said.

Roy Manning, an electronics engineer from Cambridge who had been waiting in the transit lounge since 10.45 last night said tempers were fraying as conditions at the airport deteriorated. "They threatened us they were turning the power off and said there would be no food," he said.

"We still don't know how we're going to get home."

The airport takeover was one of the boldest gambles yet by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in its four-month campaign to topple Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, whom it accuses of being the puppet of a disgraced fugitive predecessor, billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra.

It is threatening the country's crucial tourist industry in the run-up to the busy Christmas season. The airport has been shut down, with incoming flights diverted to Chiang Mai and Phuket airport. A number of airlines including Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific cancelled their flights to Bangkok.

The alliance vowed to bring its campaign to a final showdown this week, and violence has spiked. Early today a grenade was thrown at PAD members camped out at a separate domestic airport in Bangkok, injuring at least three people, police said. Running street clashes between supporters and opponents of the government last night included the first open use of firearms by the anti-government militants. Police said 11 government supporters were injured, some with gunshot wounds.

A PAD website claimed that police at the airport had also fired on them, injuring two protestors and potentially setting off a violent confrontation. The group issued an ultimatum on the website, insisting it would maintain the airport blockade until Mr Somchai steps down.

Serirat Prasutanont, the airport director, said he was attempting to negotiate with protesters to allow passengers stranded by the protest to fly. "The incident has damaged Thailand's reputation and its economy beyond repair," he said.

Some passengers had been stuck in no-man's land, having gone through passport control only to find their plane cancelled but no way of returning to land-side without a re-entry visa, a Foreign Office spokesman said today.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been contacted on seven separate occasions by Britons stuck at the airport.

The PAD protestors began their final push to topple the Thai government on Monday, and following last night's airport invasion Prime Minister Somchai Wongswat was reportedly forced to land in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai after returning from the APEC summit in Peru.

"The final rally is well into its 50th hour and the supporters of the PAD have been pressuring the traitorous government to step down with peaceful means," the ultimatum on the PAD website said.

"The People's Alliance for Democracy is left with no choice but to step up its peaceful rally by blocking off access to the Suvarnabhumi Airport. This is considered to be an ultimatum for Somchai Wongsawat and the Cabinet to resign immediately and without any condition."

Last night, Suwan Kansanoh, a PAD militant and retired civil servant said 25,000 protestors had taken over the airport to force the government to resign. But observers believe the militants only number a few thousand, a meagre and largely unarmed force that would be easily routed by the police or the military.

Although a few PAD guards yesterday fired on opponents elsewhere in Bangkok, injuring a number of people, the authorities appear to favour a policy of non-confrontation wherever possible.

This morning, the Suvarnabhumi Airport official website warned airport operations were in chaos although some incoming flights were still allowed to land.

With six per cent of Thailand's gross domestic product directly dependent on tourism, it is unlikely the government will permit the airport occupation to last.

The occupation capped two days of PAD demonstrations, billed by PAD leaders as "the final mass rally to oust the nominee killer government".

Yet the turnout for the final rally at Parliament House on Monday was thought to be about 20,000, a far cry from the days in 2006 when the movement could send 100,000 militants on to the streets of Bangkok.

The PAD militants have tried to capitalise on public condemnation of police tactics, particularly following mass injuries and one death in early October when police fired exploding tear-gas canisters into a PAD crowd.

But public support for the ardently-royalist militants appears to be waning, and PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang on the weekend declared that if this final push failed to topple the government: "we will all go home".

General Anupong Paojinda, the army chief, yesterday said there would be no coup, even if violence broke out. "The armed forces have agreed that a coup cannot solve our country's problems and we will try to weather the current situation and pass this critical time," General Anupong told reporters in Bangkok.

For its part, the government, led by prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, has refused to quit, insisting that the overwhelming mandate it won in elections held at the end of last year stands.

Mr Somchai is the brother-in-law of ousted and exiled former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications billionaire who is reviled by the militants as corrupt and a puppeteer who still controls Thailand from abroad.

The FCO website describes the political situation in Thailand as "very uncertain".

It adds that access to the airport is limited and advises people to check with their airline or tour operator before they travel.

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk