Demonstrators allow Bangkok flights to resume

PHOTO

An anti-government protester sleeps on a luggage tray at Suvanabhum Airport in Bangkok on November 27, 2008.

VIDEO from Australia Network News

State of emergency declared at Thai airports

Created: 28/11/2008

Last Updated: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 21:53:00 +1100

Anti-government demonstrators in Thailand have agreed to allow flights to resume from Bangkok's international airport after a week-long blockade.

This will apply to both passenger and cargo flights.

The acting head of Airports of Thailand, Serirat Prasutanond, said in a statement that flights may be able to resume if there are no "technical problems", but suggests the international airport will remain closed until December 15.

"We will try to open the airport as soon as possible," he said.

The closure refers to passenger flights, with one cargo flight leaving Tuesday and others scheduled to follow - the first departures in a week.

Demonstrators have occupied the international airport and the smaller domestic airport over the past week, stranding 350,000 passengers.

The decision to allow flights to resume comes after Thailand's Constitutional Court dissolved the country's ruling parties and banned Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from politics for five years.

Tourists explore other routes

Tourists trying to escape the blockade have to contend with the kingdom's dangerous roads, with three foreigners killed in the last few days in traffic accidents.

A van with two Canadians crashed heading to the southern resort isle of Phuket where airlines have put on extra flights to try and clear the backlog, while a Dutchman was killed in a taxi on his way by road to Malaysia.

Airlines have been flying people out of U-Tapao, or routing flights through Phuket in the south or Chiang Mai in the north.