A series of small bomb blasts wounded several anti-government protesters blockading Bangkok’s international airport on Wednesday, protest leaders said, as chaos ruled inside the terminal and all flights were halted.
One bomb wounded four members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a spokesperson said, hours after the PAD stormed Suvarnabhumi airport late on Tuesday in a dramatic escalation of its six-month campaign to oust Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.
The Nation newspaper said on its website three explosions had been heard outside the $4-billion terminal, the gateway for nearly 15-million tourists to Thailand last year.
The Nation said a fourth blast appeared to target PAD supporters in another part of Bangkok. It said 12 people were wounded in the overnight attacks, but police have not confirmed the casualties.
Somchai was due to return from an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru on Wednesday afternoon, amid rumours he may declare a state of emergency. A government spokesperson said he would not land at Suvarnabhumi.
”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, many annoyed that airport staff fled when the PAD demonstrators, dressed in their movement’s yellow shirts, invaded the terminal, forcing officials to cancel flights.
”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, 45km from Suvarnabhumi, and another three flights to a Vietnam War-era airbase 150km south-east of Bangkok.
Budget carrier Air Asia, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific halted service to the Thai capital, a major regional hub with 125 000 passengers passing through Suvarnabhumi daily.
Singapore has advised its citizens not to visit Thailand.
American Kevin Harris said he had arrived for an early morning flight only to find people sleeping wherever they could, all around the terminal.
”I just want to get home for Thanksgiving, but it’s not going to happen. We have no idea what’s happening here. This isn’t the fault of the airport but it’s their responsibility to deal with it,” he added.
Half the flights on information boards had ”cancelled” beside them but others were not leaving at their scheduled time.
Hundreds of protesters slept in the terminal overnight after easily pushing past lines of riot police on Tuesday night. They resumed their protests outside at dawn as police looked on.
Police have gone out of their way to avoid a fight since the PAD began its ”final push” on Monday to unseat the government it accuses of being a pawn of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in exile.
Gunfire broke out on the streets of the capital on Tuesday as armed PAD members opened fire on government supporters.
At least 11 people were hurt, officials said, in violent scenes shown on Thai television.
Bloodshed could provoke another coup, a publicly stated goal of the PAD, but army chief General Anupong Paochinda has said another military intervention would not heal Thailand’s deep political rifts.
Markets were under some pressure after the latest eruption in a political deadlock that is entering its fourth year. Stocks were down 1,6% at midday, and the baht was trading at 35,28, after hitting a 21-month high of 35,34 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.
A Bangkok Post editorial said the PAD’s airport blockade ”will only further erode the rapidly dwindling public support … that the protesters badly need at this critical juncture of its campaign”.
The PAD claims the backing of Bangkok’s urban middle classes and elite, while Thaksin and the government have the support of rural voters and the urban poor. – Reuters