Thai protesters force police from airport
Sunday, 30 November 2008
BANGKOK, Nov 29 (CNN): 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.
Passengers face a long wait inside Suvarnabhumi airport with most flights canceled.
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.
A government official had earlier said that authorities would begin an operation to clear out the airport on Saturday. The initial plan called for police to stop people from coming into the facility with food and water for the more than 5,000 protesters camped inside.
The protesters -- led by the People's Alliance for Democracy -- seized the airport on Tuesday, vowing not to withdraw until the government resigns.
The anti-government alliance also has taken over another smaller airport, which the government had been using as its temporary office after being shut out of its headquarters. The alliance has seized that location as well.
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat declared a state of emergency at the two airports on Thursday, but it was not immediately clear what powers the declaration gives the government. The next day, he reassigned the police chief, dissatisfied with the latter's handling of the demonstrations.
About 60,000 tourists arrive at the airport every day. And each day it remains shut down, airport authorities lose about 50 million baht ($1.4 million) in income, the Thai News Agency reported.
Thailand's powerful army chief has urged Somchai to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections. He also asked the protesters to disperse. Both sides ignored his comments. The army has said it will not stage a coup to end the crisis.
The protesters have held almost-daily demonstrations since May. They seized the Government House in late August, fortifying it with sandbags, tires and shells of burned-out buses.
Meanwhile:Thailand's government may have imposed emergency law over Bangkok's besieged Suvarnabhumi airport, but it was not stopping a steady stream of people driving up Saturday to support the anti-government push.
Police armed with automatic rifles blocked one road to the $4 billion complex, one of the world's largest airports, but were totally absent from other routes, including the main five-lane expressway leading directly to the blockaded terminal.
People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) "security guards" man what is essentially a border crossing between the rest of Thailand, nominally under the control of a government that has moved to the northern city of Chiang Mai, 700 km away, and the airport run by the rebel street movement.
Passengers face a long wait inside Suvarnabhumi airport with most flights canceled.
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.
A government official had earlier said that authorities would begin an operation to clear out the airport on Saturday. The initial plan called for police to stop people from coming into the facility with food and water for the more than 5,000 protesters camped inside.
The protesters -- led by the People's Alliance for Democracy -- seized the airport on Tuesday, vowing not to withdraw until the government resigns.
The anti-government alliance also has taken over another smaller airport, which the government had been using as its temporary office after being shut out of its headquarters. The alliance has seized that location as well.
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat declared a state of emergency at the two airports on Thursday, but it was not immediately clear what powers the declaration gives the government. The next day, he reassigned the police chief, dissatisfied with the latter's handling of the demonstrations.
About 60,000 tourists arrive at the airport every day. And each day it remains shut down, airport authorities lose about 50 million baht ($1.4 million) in income, the Thai News Agency reported.
Thailand's powerful army chief has urged Somchai to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections. He also asked the protesters to disperse. Both sides ignored his comments. The army has said it will not stage a coup to end the crisis.
The protesters have held almost-daily demonstrations since May. They seized the Government House in late August, fortifying it with sandbags, tires and shells of burned-out buses.
Meanwhile:Thailand's government may have imposed emergency law over Bangkok's besieged Suvarnabhumi airport, but it was not stopping a steady stream of people driving up Saturday to support the anti-government push.
Police armed with automatic rifles blocked one road to the $4 billion complex, one of the world's largest airports, but were totally absent from other routes, including the main five-lane expressway leading directly to the blockaded terminal.
People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) "security guards" man what is essentially a border crossing between the rest of Thailand, nominally under the control of a government that has moved to the northern city of Chiang Mai, 700 km away, and the airport run by the rebel street movement.