Thai protesters tighten grip on Bangkok airport
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1 hour, 13 minutes ago
By Martin PettyBANGKOK (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters tightened their
grip over Bangkok's international airport on Wednesday, causing chaos in the
terminal and triggering speculation of imminent intervention by the military.
Army chief Anupong Paochinda will hold a news conference at 3 p.m. (3 a.m. EST)
after meeting security officials and business leaders to discuss the protests
by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a spokesman said.
Anupong has insisted many times he will not launch a coup only two years after
the military's removal of Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister, although he has
publicly pressed Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to stand down.
After masked PAD members broke into the control tower at Bangkok's $4 billion
Suvarnabhumi airport, the latest twist in their seizure of the site, a rival
pro-government group urged its people to hit the streets, raising the prospect
of clashes.
"What they have done are terrorist acts," Jatuporn Prompan, a ruling party
politician and leader of the anti-PAD Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship,
told a news conference.
A series of small bomb blasts wounded several PAD protesters in the airport
vicinity on Wednesday, demonstration leaders said, as chaos ruled inside the
terminal, with all flights canceled.
The stock market bucked the positive trend in the region, falling two percent
to a five-year low as investors feared the airport siege would deepen the
economic impact of a three-year political crisis that has paralyzed government.
The baht currency was trading at 35.29 to the dollar, after hitting a 21-month
low of 35.36 earlier in the day.
Thailand's finance minister has said the protests could have a damaging effect
on the economy, which depends on tourism as a key sector and is already
vulnerable to global financial turmoil.
The government forecast this week that the economy would grow just 4.5 percent
this year, its slowest rate in seven years.
STATE OF EMERGENCY?
Somchai, whom the PAD accuse of being a puppet of Thaksin, his brother-in-law,
is due to return from an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru on Wednesday afternoon.
His flight has been rerouted, but his handlers are not revealing his
destination.
"I will get off the plane wherever it lands," the Bangkok Post quoted him as
saying from Peru.
Thousands of passengers slept overnight on benches and luggage carousels at
Suvarnabhumi, many annoyed that airport staff fled when the PAD demonstrators,
dressed in the movement's yellow shirts, invaded the terminal.
"We came here and we saw all these people in yellow. We thought they were
football fans. Now we're just waiting," said a Dutchman who gave his name as
Mark.
Thai Airways, the national carrier, said 16 inbound flights had been diverted
to Bangkok's old airport Don Muang, 45 km (30 miles) from Suvarnabhumi, and
another three flights to a Vietnam War-era airbase 150 km southeast of Bangkok.
Most airlines halted service to the Thai capital, a regional hub with 125,000
passengers passing through Suvarnabhumi daily.
Singapore advised its citizens not to visit Thailand.
"I just want to get home for Thanksgiving, but it's not going to happen. We
have no idea what's happening here," American Kevin Harris said after arriving
for an early morning flight only to find people sleeping all around the
terminal.
Police have gone out of their way not to escalate the tension by confronting
the PAD, which began a "final push" on Monday to unseat the government,
although gunfire broke out on the streets on Tuesday as armed PAD members took
on government supporters.
At least 11 people were hurt, officials said, in violent scenes shown on Thai
television that are likely to undermine public support for the PAD, which
claims the backing of Bangkok's urban middle classes and elite.
Broadly speaking, Thaksin and the government have the support of rural voters
and the urban poor.
(Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by
Darren Schuettler and Jerry Norton)
The Mulindwas Communication Group
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