Thai protesters at Bangkok’s international airport updates

Thai protesters at Bangkok’s international airport updates

December 1st, 2008
Thai protesters to end government headquarters siege
BANGKOK, Thailand — Anti-government protesters said Monday they will give up their siege of the government headquarters and join the thousands who have occupied Bangkok’s international airport.

Parnthep Puapongpan, a spokesman for the People’s Alliance for Democracy — which is leading the protests — did not say how soon the demonstrators will end their sit-in of the Government House.

The protesters have camped out at the government headquarters since August 26, forcing lawmakers to meet elsewhere. Thousands of them have also taken control of Suvarnabhumi international airport, grounding flights and stranding countless passengers.

November 30th, 2008
Thai protesters allow some planes to leave
BANGKOK, Thailand — Anti-government protesters occupying Bangkok’s international airport have allowed more than three dozen commercial aircraft to leave for a naval base where stranded passengers can try to catch flights back home, an airport authority spokeswoman said Monday.

By Monday afternoon, 37 aircraft had left the Suvarnabhumi international airport, where hundreds of demonstrators have brought air traffic in the capital to a halt. All but one airplane, which flew empty to Shanghai, landed at the U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield about 140 km (90 miles) southeast of Bangkok, spokeswoman Monrudee Gettuphan said.

Authorities have estimated 100,000 passengers have been stranded since protesters led by the opposition People’s Alliance for Democracy seized the airport on Tuesday. The alliance also has taken over another, smaller airport the government had been using as its temporary office after being shut out of its headquarters by other demonstrations.

At times, the protests have turned violent. A pair of explosions injured 49 people — three of them seriously — when what was believed to be a grenade was launched at protesters at the Thai government house, said Dr. Petchpong Kumjornkijjakarn, director of the Eruwan Rescue Center. The government house has been under the control of the protesters for the past three months.

November, 29 th, 2008
Thai protesters force police away from airport
BANGKOK, Thailand — Anti-government protesters occupying Bangkok’s international airport forced police into a hasty retreat Saturday after officers tried to stop more demonstrators from joining the thousands whose siege has brought air traffic in the capital to a halt.

The 100 or so officers left behind nine police vans. Protesters promptly let the air out of the tires.

By Saturday, demonstrators parked their cars on the main highway leading to the Suvarnabhumi international airport. They also set up several checkpoints along the roads around the airport, using razor wires, abandoned cars and airport luggage carts. Masked men milled about, wielding metal sticks and baseball bats.