Bangkok's airport paralyzed after protesters' intrusion -- china.org.cn

Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport was paralyzed on Wednesday, with most flights canceled for the day, after protesters led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) expanded their besiege on state agencies to the airport on Tuesday evening in a showdown to topple the government led by premier Somchai Wongsawat.

Anti-government protesters block Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport November 25, 2008. Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport was paralyzed on Wednesday, with most flights canceled for the day, after protesters led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) expanded their besiege on state agencies to the airport on Tuesday evening in a showdown to topplethe government led by premier Somchai Wongsawat. [Xinhua/AFP Photo]

The escalated political confrontation is expected to cause more loss to the country's image and tourism industry.

Thousands of passengers, many of them foreigners, were stranded at the airport after the PAD stormed into the passenger terminal, blocked the tollway towards the airport on Tuesday evening, prompting the Airports of Thailand (AOT) to shut down the airport' s operation after 9:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) for now.

To add to the tensity, four explosions happened early Wednesday morning near the Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Don Mueang domestic airport, injuring at least 12 people.

The PAD announced Wednesday that the protesters would occupy and shut down the Suvanarbhumi airport until Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat resigns.

Some foreign embassies, including those of China and United States, have warned its citizens against travelling to Thailand for now or staying away from demonstration sites in the country to avoid possible harm.

Thai airliners on Wednesday canceled most of their international flights outbound or inbound. On Tuesday night, some international flights heading to Suvarnabhumi were forced to shift destinations to land at nearby countries like Singapore or other provincial airports in Thailand like Chiang Mai, or return to origins.

Thai Airways International (THAI), the country's flagship carrier on Wednesday that its 16 flights initially scheduled to land at Suvarnabhumi Airport on the day were diverted to Don Mueang airport and U-Tapao airport in Chon Buri province, some 200 kilometers from Bangkok.

All its inbound and outbound flights from Suvarnabhumi are temporarily suspended until the airport resumes normal operations, the company's statement said.

Bangkok Airways announced that it canceled 24 domestic and international flights to and from the Suvarnabhumi Airport Wednesday.

The budget airliner Thai Air Asia said its 28 flights to and from Suvarnabhumi on Wednesday were canceled.

Serirat Prasutanon, director of the Suvarnabhumi airport, said the PAD besiege caused the airport to lose about 50 million baht (1.43 million U.S. dollars) of income daily. Some 700 flights use the airport daily, but now most of them were canceled.

The PAD protests, especially the intrusion into airports, are expected to deal another big blow to the already sluggish Thai economy, which is foreign-investment and tourism-oriented, at a time just weeks away from the peak tourist season during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Olarn Chaipravat, Deputy Prime Minister overseeing economic policy, acknowledged that the PAD protests would undermine the country's image abroad and hurt investor confidence.

"They (PAD) have the right to protest, but they must consider the rights of others. And they should also consider the damage caused to the entire country," Olarn was quoted by Bangkok Post as saying.

The PAD stormed airports in key tourist hubs in the country, prompting brief shutdowns of Krabi, Phuket and Hat Yai airports in Thai south in August when they seized state agencies and occupied the Government House, in their first mass battle to bring down the Somchai government, which the PAD said is a proxy of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The government had to set up a temporary office at the Don Mueang airport, the former Bangkok International Airport before Suvarnabhumi opened in September, 2006, and now used for domestic and military use.

On Tuesday, the PAD besieged Don Mueang airport at initial reports that the charter plane boarding Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from Peru was to land there. But the flight was reportedly delayed and the premier was expected to arrive in Thailand on Wednesday en route a yet-to-confirm provincial airport.

Apichart Sankary, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), predicted that the Thai tourism business will suffer great loss next year because of the political turmoil.

Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kohsurat said authorities were working with the Thai Travel Agents Association and Airports of Thailand to assist tourists and advise on alternative travel routes to Suvarnabhumi airport.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2008)