Thailand declares state of emergency at airports

Military told to 'take care' of situation

Protesters occupied a checkpoint today at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok. They have also taken over the city's other commercial airport and the prime minister's offices. (Vincent Thian/associated press)

BANGKOK - Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat declared a state of emergency at Bangkok's two commercial airports yesterday and instructed the police and some military units to deal with protesters occupying the facilities.

The order, announced in a nationally televised address, was given after a Cabinet meeting in the northern city of Chiang Mai, a location apparently chosen to avoid confrontations with protesters who in Bangkok are occupying the prime minister's offices as well as the airports.

"It is necessary for me to announce an emergency decree in some areas," Somchai said. "There is no intention to harm anyone."

He assigned police, air force, and naval units to "take care" of the situation. It was unclear whether this meant they are charged with clearing protesters out of the facilities.

There were rumors of a military coup to end the monthslong standoff with the People's Alliance for Democracy, which is trying to topple the government.

A government spokesman instructed troops yesterday to "stay in their barracks," and there were no obvious signs of police or military near the airport last night, the Associated Press reported.

The closure of Bangkok's second airport severed the last remaining commercial air links to the Thai capital. Until Wednesday, airlines were operating domestic flights out of Don Muang airport, Bangkok's oldest airfield.

Protesters have vowed to keep the airports shut until the government steps down.

Government supporters who have formed a type of auxiliary, known as the red shirts, said they were growing impatient with the protesters. Weera Musikapong, one of the leaders of the group said in a news conference that the "best way out" of the crisis was to follow the law. "But if the government does not act today or tomorrow the red shirt group and the people must come out and do something."

Protesters have clashed with progovernment forces on several occasions in recent months.

Thailand's tourism minister, Weerasak Kohsurat, said the government would soon begin flying thousands of stranded tourists out of the country using military bases near the Thai capital.

Tourists would be flown by Thai Airways to Singapore or Malaysia for connecting flights, the Associated Press reported.

Government officials also said yesterday that they would allow commercial airlines to use one of the military airports, U-Tapao.

Used by the US military during the Vietnam War, U-Tapao can handle only a fraction of the daily average of 100,000 passengers who flew in and out of Suvarnabhumi International Airport last year.

U-Tapao's terminal has the capacity to hold 400 people, and the parking lot has about 100 spaces. The airport is about 120 miles from Bangkok.

The seizure of Bangkok's airports is radical even by the standards of Thailand's tempestuous political past. Despite frequent military coups and changes of government in past decades, the day-to-day running of Thailand's bureaucracy had been largely unaffected until now.

The airports operated with little interruption during a military coup in 2006 and has maintained reliable service in areas such as electricity and healthcare despite political turmoil.

But with the closure of the airports this week and occupation of the prime minister's office since August, politics is now directly interfering with many facets of life in Thailand.

The country's foreign minister, Sompong Amornwiwat, said the government is considering postponing a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations scheduled for next month because of the political crisis, Reuters reported.

"The protesters have basically closed down the country," said Ruth Banomyong, an associate professor at Thammasat Business School who is one of the region's leading experts in logistics.