November 26, 2008	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 27, 1429

BANGKOK, Nov 25: Anti-government demonstrators swarmed Bangkok’s international airport late on Tuesday — halting departing flights — as opponents and supporters of Thailand’s government clashed in an escalation of the country’s long-running political crisis.Outbound flights at Suvarnabhumi International Airport were temporarily suspended at 9pm, authorities said, shortly before hundreds of demonstrators — some masked and armed with metal rods — broke through police lines and spilled into the passenger terminal.

Airport manager Serirat Prasutanon said airport authorities had tried to negotiate with the protesters “but to no avail.”

“For the safety of passengers, we have to stop flights out of the airport temporarily until the situation returns to normal,” he said in a statement, adding that incoming flights were still operating.

He said the governor of Samut Prakan province, where the airport is located, had asked the army to help police but that there has “not been a response. We would like to ask the army to reinforce the police to provide security. Otherwise, there will be major damage to the country.”

Army spokesman Col. Sansern Khaewkamnerd could not be immediately reached for comment.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s $16 billion a year tourism industry — already suffering from months of political unrest — faced a potentially serious blow. Suvarnabhumi airport is the world’s 18th largest in terms of passenger traffic, handling over 40 million passengers in 2007.

Airport manager Serirat said he did not know how many flights had been canceled, but he called it “a major disruption.” Air Chief Marshal Narongsak Sangranong, acting manager of Thai Airways International, said 18 national carrier flights have been canceled, stranding hundreds of passengers.

“We don’t know how many more will have to be canceled tomorrow if this goes on,” he said.

Travelers appeared bewildered by the turn of events.

“This is the first time I have seen anything like this. I am glad that it did not turn out violent,” said Daniel Garmona, a tourist from North Carolina who was waiting for a flight back to the US.

Using trucks and cars, demonstrators cut off highway access to the airport, the transportation hub for millions of tourists who visit the country each year.

The airport siege followed a clash earlier in the evening between opponents and supporters of Thailand’s government.

Members of the anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy were returning from a rally at the smaller Don Muang airport, when government supporters threw rocks at their truck.

Alliance members responded by firing slingshots and a half-dozen shots with two pistols from their truck, according to footage shown on Thai PBS television.

The footage showed the alliance supporters surrounding a motorcycle taxi driver and putting a knife to his throat. After the driver fled, the protesters battered several motorbikes with steel rods and set fire to another one.

The clash was the second time in recent months that the two sides have fought and marks the first major violence since Oct 7, when street battles with police and anti-government forces left two people dead and hundreds wounded.

In a Sept 2 clash between the two sides, a government supporter was beaten to death, while two alliance members were killed last week in grenade attacks.

Police Col Piyapong Ponvanich said 11 people were wounded in Tuesday’s street fight, most of them government supporters, some with gunshot wounds.

Political tensions that have been simmering since 2006, when a similar protest campaign against then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — accused of corruption and abuse of power — led to him being deposed by a military coup.

Tensions heated up further with the current effort to force Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to step down. The protesters accuse him of acting as a proxy for Thaksin, his brother-in-law. They demanded his resignation in a statement issued late Tuesday.“The People’s Alliance for Democracy is left with no choice but to step up its peaceful rally by blocking off access to the Suvarnabhumi Airport. This is considered to be an ultimatum for Somchai Wongsawat and the Cabinet to resign immediately and without any condition,” the statement.

Protest group spokesman Suriyasai Katasila said the airport will be shut down “until Somchai quits.”

The siege of the airport was aimed at Somchai, who is scheduled to return late on Wednesday from an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru.

Government spokesman Nattawut Sai-gua said Somchai will be landing at a military airport rather than Suvarnabhumi airport “to avoid confrontation.”

Deputy Prime Minister Chauwarat Chanweerakul said the government will refrain from using force to end the impasse.

“They need to stop taking over important places like airports. We will try to negotiate with them to end this siege, because it is not acceptable. It is hurting the economy, and it is hurting the country badly.”

Somchai’s party, which draws support from the Thai countryside, was the top winner in a general election held in December 2007, and its coalition government is entitled to a five-year term.

But it can dissolve itself and call new elections, be forced out by a vote of no confidence or be toppled by a coup, of which Thailand has seen 18 since the absolute monarchy was abolished more than seven decades ago.—AP