ASIA: Aussies stranded as protesters surround Thai airport
26 Nov 2008 1:53 PM
BANGKOK, Nov 26 AFP/AAP - Australians are among hundreds of travellers trapped inside Bangkok's besieged airport as protesters dramatically ramp up their campaign to topple the government.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has warned Australians in Thailand to exercise a high degree of caution, saying there is a "high threat" of a terrorist attack amid the escalating political crisis.
Protesters seeking to oust Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat stormed the Suvarnabhumi Airport complex on Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of flights and leaving travellers holed up inside.
Adding to the sense of lawlessness, there were several grenade attacks in Bangkok on Wednesday, including one at the airport which wounded two people, media reports said.
Airport director Serirat Prasutanont said as many as 500 passengers were stranded at the major regional hub. He had earlier put the figure in the thousands.
"We have to close the airport because of (alliance) protesters blocked the entire airport," Serirat said.
"However, we are trying to negotiate them to allow outgoing passengers stranded by the protest to fly."
Incoming flights are being diverted to other airports in Thailand including Don Muang, Chiang Mai and Phuket.
The crisis began on Tuesday when guards from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest movement sealed off roads to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Among the stranded Australians is Lisa Gilbert, a chief of staff with Australia's Seven News, who described the situation as "frightening".
"It is quite frightening because we can see the protesters through the window, especially considering what happened last night when they stormed the terminal," she told Seven.
"But we're being told we are safe in here and there is a strong police presence so I think that is the case."
Another Australian, identified only as Steve, told the Herald Sun: "I don't know what's going on. We were going home and suddenly everything came to a halt."
Fellow Australian, Carl, did not seem too concerned by the drama.
"It's all very exciting," he said. "It's some sort of protest. We want to go home, but we've no idea what we're supposed to do."
Thai police said 8,000 demonstrators, most wearing yellow clothes in a traditional symbol of loyalty to the revered monarchy, had camped out at the $US3 billion ($A4.6 billion) airport overnight.
Another 1,500 were moving towards the terminal from Government House, the prime minister's office in central Bangkok which demonstrators have occupied since August, paralysing the government.
The PAD - a loose coalition comprising royalists, Bangkok's old elite and the middle class - is spreading chaos ahead of the prime minister's return from a foreign trip later on Wednesday.
The alliance accuses Somchai's government of being a corrupt puppet of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin, who is Somchai's brother-in-law, was ousted in a 2006 coup.
Riot police have largely refused to tackle protesters amid fears of a repeat of clashes between protesters and police on October 7 that left two people dead and nearly 500 injured, the worst political violence in Thailand for 16 years.
Thailand's deputy premier said on Tuesday the government was ready to ask the military for help, but urged calm in the kingdom amid the spiralling situation.
Local television stations said a grenade was fired at protesters at Suvarnabhumi early on Wednesday and emergency services official Petpong Kamchornkitkarn told AFP that at least two people were wounded.
A near simultaneous grenade attack on anti-government demonstrators picketing Bangkok's old Don Mueang airport, where Somchai has set up temporary offices, also wounded two people, Petpong said.
Another three were hurt when two grenades were tossed into a crowd of pro-government supporters on a road to Don Mueang, the site of a clash between rival activists that left 11 hurt on Tuesday, police said.
Somchai has rejected calls to quit. His plane back from the APEC summit in Peru was due to land at an undisclosed location on Wednesday evening.
The PAD called this week's rallies in response to a grenade attack on Thursday that killed one protester. It launched the present campaign in May to emulate one in 2006 that led to Thaksin's downfall.
