Second Bangkok airport shut by Thai anti-government protesters

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Bangkok was effectively cut off Thursday as the city's second airport was closed after it was stormed by anti-government protestors who are already laying siege to the main international air hub in the Thai capital, report agencies .
Don Muang airport, the former international terminus, now mainly handles domestic flights. But it has also recently played host to the Thai prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, who had set up temporary offices there after demonstrators invaded the compound of his Government House headquarters three months ago.
The double airport closure has left thousands of international travellers stranded for a third day after all flights at Suvarnabhumi airport were halted as People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protestors, who are calling for the government to quit, continued their occupation.
The blockade of Don Muang was an apparent attempt to stop ministers flying to meet the prime minister, who has summoned his cabinet to the northern city of Chiang Mai to discuss the mounting tensions that bring the threat of another military coup ever closer. Somchai's flight home from an overseas trip was diverted to Chang Mai.
A government spokesman said Somchai could decide to declare emergency rule to evict the protestors, but when his predecessor tried the same tactic in September it had no tangible effect as the army said it was not prepared to act.
Somchai has dismissed advice by the army chief, Anupong Paochinda, to dissolve parliament and call snap elections as a way to resolve the crisis that is crippling Thailand's vital tourist industry just at the start of the high season.
PAD leaders have themselves ignored the army's order to leave Suvarnabhumi airport, saying they will not leave until Somchai steps down unconditionally.
Airport authority officials are considering using the Thai airbase of U Tapao, 90 miles south of Bangkok. This already received a number of diverted flights, but passengers had to wait for six hours on arrival because of a shortage of customs, immigration and baggage handling staff.
British embassy diplomats have received anxious calls from those whose flights were cancelled and fear they may run out of money with no resolution of the stand-off in sight.
Thousands are being put up in hotels around Bangkok and the resort town of Pattaya, with their accommodation bill footed for the time being by their airlines or the Thai government.
A more immediate concern is that rival factions of government supporters and those dedicated to its downfall could clash, mayhem in which holidaymakers might be caught up.
Four bombs exploded near the PAD protestors occupying the Government House grounds, and volleys of gunshots were heard, in the early hours though no one was hurt.
Meanwhile: An aircraft taking Thai ministers to a northern city for an urgent cabinet meeting Thursday made an emergency landing in Bangkok after developing a technical problem, the air force said.
The ministers were flying to Chiang Mai to meet Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat after anti-government protesters seized a second Bangkok airport, effectively isolating the capital from the rest of the world.