15,000 stranded in Thailand Phuket
Anti-govt protests force indefinite closure of Thailand’s second-busiest airport
Phuket - More than 15,000 passengers were stranded yesterday on the holiday isle of Phuket as officials said the airport would be closed indefinitely due to ongoing anti-government protests.
Thailand’s second-busiest airport was closed on Friday afternoon after 5,000 protesters set up a blockade and marched down the tarmac, forcing the authorities to suspend flights to and from the island.
About 1,000 protesters from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which is also squatting in the main government compound in Bangkok, blocked access to the airport yesterday.
The airport’s director Wicha Nurnlop said the protesters had refused to negotiate with the authorities on reopening the runway.
‘Phuket airport is shutting down indefinitely,’ he added.
So far, more than 100 flights have been cancelled, including 25 on international routes, leaving 15,000 passengers stranded, said Mr Wicha.
Phuket’s tourism authority and hotels’ associations are scrambling to help stranded tourists by handing out room discounts and arranging buses out of the island for those who need to catch connecting flights from Bangkok.
The timing could not be worse for the popular tourist destination, which will soon head into its peak tourist season.
With most Europeans choosing country packages for the peak year-end travel season around now, Thai travel agents are worried that the protests may drive Phuket’s customers to Bali or Vietnam instead.
The closure of Phuket airport - the second-busiest in Thailand after Bangkok - could hit the tourism industry hard as a third of the 15 million to 16 million visitors to the country each year go to the resort.
The nearby Krabi airport also has been closed since Friday evening. But the southern airport in Hat Yai reopened for a Thai Airways flight early yesterday, after protesters had forced its closure on Friday.
Thailand’s political troubles have already prompted South Korea to advise its nationals to avoid travelling to the country ‘until calm returns’.
As for the travellers who are caught in the middle, they just want out. One frustrated Australian told Agence France-Presse: ‘I want to go home. I have nothing to do with this situation.’
Reuters, AFP
Source : Straits Times - 31 Aug 2008
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