The leader of a group of anti-government protesters in Thailand says the week-long siege of Bangkok's airports will end on Wednesday morning.
A government official said the first flights out of Suvarnabhumi international airport will leave for Rome and Sydney on Dec 5, bringing to an end seven days of misery for tourists who have been unable to leave the country.
People's Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi Limthongkul said on Tuesday that thousands of protesters who have been camped at Suvarnabhumi international airport and the domestic Don Muang airport will leave by Wednesday morning.
"The People's Alliance for Democracy has agreed to cease protesting after a long-running 192-day campaign. We have won a victory and achieved our aims," said Mr Limthongkul, reading a statement to reporters.
"All protests will stop as of December 3 at 10am (0300 GMT)."
Airport authority chairman Vudhibhandhu Vichairatana said he inspected the airport and found no damage.
The announcements came hours after a court ruling brought down Thailand's government.
A court dissolved Thailand's top three ruling parties for electoral fraud and banned the prime minister from politics for five years, bringing down a government that has faced months of strident protests seeking its ouster.
The nation's Constitutional Court ruling set the stage for thousands of protesters to end their weeklong siege of the country's two main airports, but also raised fears of retaliatory violence by supporters of the government, which could sink the country deeper into crisis.
Government spokesman Nattawut Sai-kau said Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and his six-party coalition would step down. Mr Somchai, who has been working from the northern city of Chiang Mai since Wednesday, accepted the ruling with equanimity.
"It is not a problem. I was not working for myself. Now I will be a full-time citizen," he told reporters in Chiang Mai.
http://www.telegraph...-to-resume.html
Thai airport protests to end, flights to resume
Started by
gaz
, Dec 02 2008 08:27 PM
33 replies to this topic
#2
rxpharm
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Posted 03 December 2008 - 02:11 AM
CNN just broadcast an announcement by a Suvarnabhumi airport official - saying outbound flights will start Thursday Dec. 4 and inbound flights Friday Dec. 5. This is probably regarding passenger flights since air freight already started today.
A CNN reporter also described his walk through up to immigration and said he saw no signs of damage, and if true said the airport should be able to start operations again in a couple of days.
A CNN reporter also described his walk through up to immigration and said he saw no signs of damage, and if true said the airport should be able to start operations again in a couple of days.
#3
jimbo34
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Posted 03 December 2008 - 02:27 PM
There's no way the airport will be ready for passengers for a good few days. "No damage" - the pictures i see on Thai tv show, at the very least, a lot of clearing up to do - all those noodle stalls make a hell of a mess. And can you imagine the toilets 
? Plus a general light vandalism around.
I think they plan to start freight flights tomorrow.
? Plus a general light vandalism around.I think they plan to start freight flights tomorrow.
#4
gaz
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Posted 03 December 2008 - 03:49 PM
http://www.timesonli...icle5277798.ece
Thailand airports re-open as week long siege ends
After a week at a standstill, Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport is back in operation today, with the first incoming flight landing.
As the militants from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) brought their crippling seven day siege of Bangkok's airports to an end and began their exodus, the international airport opened early this morning and the first flight arrived from Phuket, in Southern Thailand.
The first of the 240,000 foreign tourists, including several thousand Britons, still stranded in Thailand will be flown out at midnight tomorrow.
Vudhibhandu Vichairatana, the chairman of Airports of Thailand (AOT), told The Times the first international departure would in all likelihood be a Thai Airlines flight to Rome.
As Chavarat Charnvirakul, the acting Prime Minister, announced parliament would vote for a new prime minister on Monday, the PAD protesters who have held the country to ransom for the last week mopped up their mess at Suvarnabhumi and streamed away in cars, buses and lorries loaded with their belongings.
As they left, they passed officials from Thai Airlines and AOT assessing the damage of the week long siege.
"We had security staff coming in last night to inspect, and they will be here again today," Mr Vudhibhandhu said as he walked through the airport.
"Mechanical engineers and technical staff will be conducting assessments," he said.
Around him, squads of cleaners armed with brooms swarmed through the airport.
The siege, which severed Bangkok's air links with the world, has devastated the country's tourist industy and crippled the economy. It was expected that over 1 million jobs would be lost if it continued.
It was a last ditch bid for PAD militants to oust Somchai Wongsawat, the Prime Minister,who they accused of being a proxy for the corrupt Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a coup in 2006.
Their six month long battle to toppled Mr Somchai's government ended yesterday when the highest court in the land forced him from power.
His government was dissolved, and he and other leaders of the People's Power Party (PPP) were barred from politics for five years after the Constitutional Court found one member of the PPP guilty of electoral fraud in 2007.
It has been replaced by a shell party made up of most of the PPP members - a fact that might throw the country back into political chaos.
PAD has warned that if the new government is made up of its former, pro-Thaksin politicians, it would be back on the streets again.
"I'm happy because the government was no good, the government has gone, and we have won," said Sarakorn Ingkapiankun, a PAD member.
"I hope the new government will be better. Our victory is not a total victory, it's step by step," warned Mr Sarakorn as he queued for a lorry out of the airport.
As Mr Sarakorn and his compadres packed their gear to leave the airport, Henry Shearer was on a bus on his way to Phuket – his first chance to leave the country since Saturday.
Mr Shearer, a 27-year-old chartered surveyor from London, and his girlfriend Gemma Radcliffe, a physiotherapist, have been stranded in Thailand since the weekend have spent the last few days trying to find a way out.
"At least we're heading in the right direction," he said.
Thailand airports re-open as week long siege ends
After a week at a standstill, Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport is back in operation today, with the first incoming flight landing.
As the militants from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) brought their crippling seven day siege of Bangkok's airports to an end and began their exodus, the international airport opened early this morning and the first flight arrived from Phuket, in Southern Thailand.
The first of the 240,000 foreign tourists, including several thousand Britons, still stranded in Thailand will be flown out at midnight tomorrow.
Vudhibhandu Vichairatana, the chairman of Airports of Thailand (AOT), told The Times the first international departure would in all likelihood be a Thai Airlines flight to Rome.
As Chavarat Charnvirakul, the acting Prime Minister, announced parliament would vote for a new prime minister on Monday, the PAD protesters who have held the country to ransom for the last week mopped up their mess at Suvarnabhumi and streamed away in cars, buses and lorries loaded with their belongings.
As they left, they passed officials from Thai Airlines and AOT assessing the damage of the week long siege.
"We had security staff coming in last night to inspect, and they will be here again today," Mr Vudhibhandhu said as he walked through the airport.
"Mechanical engineers and technical staff will be conducting assessments," he said.
Around him, squads of cleaners armed with brooms swarmed through the airport.
The siege, which severed Bangkok's air links with the world, has devastated the country's tourist industy and crippled the economy. It was expected that over 1 million jobs would be lost if it continued.
It was a last ditch bid for PAD militants to oust Somchai Wongsawat, the Prime Minister,who they accused of being a proxy for the corrupt Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a coup in 2006.
Their six month long battle to toppled Mr Somchai's government ended yesterday when the highest court in the land forced him from power.
His government was dissolved, and he and other leaders of the People's Power Party (PPP) were barred from politics for five years after the Constitutional Court found one member of the PPP guilty of electoral fraud in 2007.
It has been replaced by a shell party made up of most of the PPP members - a fact that might throw the country back into political chaos.
PAD has warned that if the new government is made up of its former, pro-Thaksin politicians, it would be back on the streets again.
"I'm happy because the government was no good, the government has gone, and we have won," said Sarakorn Ingkapiankun, a PAD member.
"I hope the new government will be better. Our victory is not a total victory, it's step by step," warned Mr Sarakorn as he queued for a lorry out of the airport.
As Mr Sarakorn and his compadres packed their gear to leave the airport, Henry Shearer was on a bus on his way to Phuket – his first chance to leave the country since Saturday.
Mr Shearer, a 27-year-old chartered surveyor from London, and his girlfriend Gemma Radcliffe, a physiotherapist, have been stranded in Thailand since the weekend have spent the last few days trying to find a way out.
"At least we're heading in the right direction," he said.
#5
gaz
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Posted 03 December 2008 - 05:02 PM
http://www.guardian....-flights-resume
First flight reaches Bangkok as airport blockade ends
• Protesters withdraw after court removes Thai PM
• End in sight for 230,000 stranded tourists
Thousands of anti-government protesters streamed away from Bangkok's international airport today in buses and pick-up trucks, ending an eight-day siege that stranded hundreds of thousands of foreign travelers in Thailand.
The lifting of the blockade in what looked like a victory parade came after a court disbanded the governing party and disqualified from office the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, for electoral fraud.
The first passenger flight to Suvarnabhumi international in more than a week arrived today, bringing travellers from the resort island of Phuket.
The airports authority warned it would be several days before the arrival of the first international flight, though the hope is normal services will resume soon to take 230,000 trapped tourists home.
As People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) demonstrators – who wear yellow in reverence of the king – packed up their tents and bedrolls, survivors of the ousted government began deciding on an interim leader.
The rump of the six-party coalition plans to meet next Monday to select a new prime minister, a decision that could renew tensions. The court ruling has defused the immediate crisis but demonstrators have warned they will return if things do not go to their liking.
"We will come back when the nation needs us," said Somkiat Pongpaibul, a key leader of the PAD, which pits Bangkok's urban monarchist elite against the rural poor who voted the government into power.
Rattiporn Nimitraporn, 29, one of the PAD devotees who took over the airport on the first daym, said: "The PAD has stopped now because we want the country to work. We will see what next step the government takes. We still have work to do to clean up the country."
Another protester, Pas Apinantpreeda, said: "In the next two weeks I think we will come again."
Today the mood was one of carnival as the remaining demonstrators sang and danced to a band on a makeshift stage outside the departure areas.
Long queues formed before a table set up for the PAD's co-founders, Chamlong Srimaung and Sondhi Limthongkul, who gave autographs for the faithful.
With the mutual backslapping over, Chamlong held what passed for an official hand-over ceremony of Suvarnabhumi. He hugged and shook hands with the Thai airports authority chairman, Vudhibhandhu Vichairatana, in front of a Buddhist shrine.
The first international flight, from Rome, is due to arrive at one minute after midnight tomorrow. Serirat Prasutanond, Suvarnabhumi's manager, predicted a speedy return to normality after that. " I have strong confidence that everything will be OK and back to normal in two days," he said.
As he spoke, 700 soldiers and specialist bomb teams moved into the airport with sniffer dogs to search for bombs. Cleaners were taking away piles of rubbish and computer technicians started rebooting systems shut down a week ago.
First flight reaches Bangkok as airport blockade ends
• Protesters withdraw after court removes Thai PM
• End in sight for 230,000 stranded tourists
Thousands of anti-government protesters streamed away from Bangkok's international airport today in buses and pick-up trucks, ending an eight-day siege that stranded hundreds of thousands of foreign travelers in Thailand.
The lifting of the blockade in what looked like a victory parade came after a court disbanded the governing party and disqualified from office the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, for electoral fraud.
The first passenger flight to Suvarnabhumi international in more than a week arrived today, bringing travellers from the resort island of Phuket.
The airports authority warned it would be several days before the arrival of the first international flight, though the hope is normal services will resume soon to take 230,000 trapped tourists home.
As People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) demonstrators – who wear yellow in reverence of the king – packed up their tents and bedrolls, survivors of the ousted government began deciding on an interim leader.
The rump of the six-party coalition plans to meet next Monday to select a new prime minister, a decision that could renew tensions. The court ruling has defused the immediate crisis but demonstrators have warned they will return if things do not go to their liking.
"We will come back when the nation needs us," said Somkiat Pongpaibul, a key leader of the PAD, which pits Bangkok's urban monarchist elite against the rural poor who voted the government into power.
Rattiporn Nimitraporn, 29, one of the PAD devotees who took over the airport on the first daym, said: "The PAD has stopped now because we want the country to work. We will see what next step the government takes. We still have work to do to clean up the country."
Another protester, Pas Apinantpreeda, said: "In the next two weeks I think we will come again."
Today the mood was one of carnival as the remaining demonstrators sang and danced to a band on a makeshift stage outside the departure areas.
Long queues formed before a table set up for the PAD's co-founders, Chamlong Srimaung and Sondhi Limthongkul, who gave autographs for the faithful.
With the mutual backslapping over, Chamlong held what passed for an official hand-over ceremony of Suvarnabhumi. He hugged and shook hands with the Thai airports authority chairman, Vudhibhandhu Vichairatana, in front of a Buddhist shrine.
The first international flight, from Rome, is due to arrive at one minute after midnight tomorrow. Serirat Prasutanond, Suvarnabhumi's manager, predicted a speedy return to normality after that. " I have strong confidence that everything will be OK and back to normal in two days," he said.
As he spoke, 700 soldiers and specialist bomb teams moved into the airport with sniffer dogs to search for bombs. Cleaners were taking away piles of rubbish and computer technicians started rebooting systems shut down a week ago.
#6
Legend
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Posted 03 December 2008 - 05:28 PM
As protesters left, the first flight for a week arrived at Bangkok.
A Thai Airways flight carrying 305 passengers from the southern resort island of Phuket touched down at Suvarnabhumi airport at 1415 local time (0715 GMT).
International flights are due to resume on Thursday.
A Thai Airways flight carrying 305 passengers from the southern resort island of Phuket touched down at Suvarnabhumi airport at 1415 local time (0715 GMT).
International flights are due to resume on Thursday.
"im sure if u look around u can find a sunken face under caloried 10 year vet tranny bar girl, her face might not be as uniquely sunken or her ass dents so dented but just have a look, life is full of options." - boomdraw.
#7
sev7en
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Posted 03 December 2008 - 07:26 PM
There's no way the airport will be ready for passengers for a good few days. .
For sure. I say at least 1 week before things are back to "normal".
A friend is flying out on friday, lets see how that works.
I was booked tomorrow, but got a refund.
"some see an erotic photo display, me i just hope the hot water soothed her ageing joints."
-boomdraw
-boomdraw
#8
Drift Spunk
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Posted 03 December 2008 - 07:27 PM
Thai Airways International decided Wednesday to sue People's Alliance for Democracy for about 20 billion baht for closing Suvarnabhumi and Don Muaeng airports for a week, resulting in the cut in its revenue. 
#9
dixon cox
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Posted 03 December 2008 - 09:57 PM
If you get the option to arrive at U-Tapao in the meantime then take it.
I arrived from at U-Tapao on Monday 1st Dec with EVA on the first flight into Thailand from LHR and it was the easiest journey I have ever had. The plane was less than 25% full and I had the whole 4 back rows to myself, the fifth row had one guy in it.
Arrivals at U-Tapao was a piece of cake. Second in line at immigration and 2 mins for my bag which was 5 metres away.
Many many taxi touts INSIDE the airport and a queue INTO U-Tapao airport about 2 or 3km long. So walked 10 mins to reach my taxi (shared with a guy on the flight) to Pattaya in under 40 mins.
U-Tapao summary:
Getting IN = Easy.
Getting OUT = A bit chaotic with 2-3kms of traffic into the airport
I arrived from at U-Tapao on Monday 1st Dec with EVA on the first flight into Thailand from LHR and it was the easiest journey I have ever had. The plane was less than 25% full and I had the whole 4 back rows to myself, the fifth row had one guy in it.
Arrivals at U-Tapao was a piece of cake. Second in line at immigration and 2 mins for my bag which was 5 metres away.
Many many taxi touts INSIDE the airport and a queue INTO U-Tapao airport about 2 or 3km long. So walked 10 mins to reach my taxi (shared with a guy on the flight) to Pattaya in under 40 mins.
U-Tapao summary:
Getting IN = Easy.
Getting OUT = A bit chaotic with 2-3kms of traffic into the airport
Meum cerebrum nocet
#11
dixon cox
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Posted 04 December 2008 - 06:13 AM
A pain in the ass :oDC - how is our mutual friend?
Meum cerebrum nocet
#12
bigmick22
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Posted 04 December 2008 - 06:55 AM
A pain in the ass :oDC - how is our mutual friend?
all is good then!
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