Anti-government protests halt flights at Bangkok airport

ANTI-GOVERNMENT demonstrators swarmed Bangkok’s international airport late last night, halting departing flights, as opponents and supporters of Thailand’s government fought in the streets of the city.

Political tensions, simmering for two years, have boiled over in recent months, but yesterday’s violent confrontations in Bangkok — which saw protesters using slingshots, knives and gunfire on a busy street and tourists caught up in the airport chaos — marked a dramatic escalation.

Minutes after outbound flights at Suvarnabhumi International Airport were suspended, hundreds of demonstrators — some masked and armed with metal rods — broke through police lines and spilled into the passenger terminal.

The airport manager said authorities tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with the protesters, who accuse Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of being a puppet of his disgraced predecessor and have occupied his offices since August, demanding his resignation.

“For the safety of passengers, we have to stop flights out of the airport temporarily until the situation returns to normal,” the manager, Serirat Prasutanon, said. He said incoming flights were operating and the provincial governor asked the army to help police.

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

The airport siege followed an earlier clash between opponents and supporters of Thailand’s government.

It was the second time in recent months that the two sides fought and marks the first major violence since October 7, when street battles left two dead and hundreds wounded.