Thailand shuts down second airport

Thai authorities shut down Bangkok’s second airport today after it was overrun by anti-government protesters, cutting off the capital from air traffic as the prime minister rejected their demands to resign.

Meanwhile Thailand’s powerful army commander, who has remained neutral in the conflict, stepped into the fray, urging prime minister Somchai Wongsawat to step down.

He also asked thousands of protesters to end their siege of the main international Suwarnabhumi airport since Tuesday, which has forced authorities to shut it down and cancel hundreds of flights, drawing world attention to a turmoil that has reduced Thailand to a dysfunctional nation.

The anti-government protests, which gathered pace four months ago, have paralysed the government, battered the stock market, spooked foreign investors and dealt a serious blow to the tourism industry.

The crisis worsened today as authorities shut down the Don Muang domestic airport, which had been receiving some diverted flights from Suwarnabhumi.

Serirat Prasutanont, chief of Thailand Airport Authority, said authorities feared that protesters who stormed the terminal building yesterday might harm passengers and aircraft.

He said authorities might consider using the U Ta Pao air force base,90 miles south east of Bangkok.

“We will also alert all of airports nationwide to be ready to receive more diverted flights,” he said.

The protests are being led by a loose coalition known as the People’s Alliance for Democracy. It accuses Mr Somchai of acting as the puppet for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a September 2006 military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power.

Former Manchester City FC owner Mr Thaksin is in exile, a fugitive from a conviction for violating a conflict of interest law. Mr Somchai is Mr Thaksin’s brother-in-law.

But Mr Somchai, who returned from Peru yesterday but was forced to land in the northern city of Chiang Mai, remained defiant.

He said in an address to the nation that he came to power through elections and had “a job to protect democracy for the people of Thailand”.

The statement amounted to a rejection of General Anupong Paochinda’s suggestion to quit, which seemed to put him on a collision course with the military, although the general has said he would not launch a coup.

Somsak Kosaisuk, a key protest alliance leader, said protesters stormed Don Muang airport because they wanted to prevent members of Mr Somchai’s Cabinet from flying to Chiang Mai for a proposed emergency Cabinet meeting today. The drive from Bangkok to Chiang Mai takes about eight hours.

But government spokesman Nattawut Saikau said the emergency meeting would go ahead.

As the deadlock continued, political violence spread to Chiang Mai yesterday, where government supporters attacked a radio station aligned with the protesters.

Separately, there were unconfirmed reports that one man was killed and several people assaulted in an attack on the city’s local airport.

Thousands of travellers were stranded in Bangkok when members of the alliance swarmed the airport on Tuesday, forcing a halt to virtually all outgoing flights.

Several thousand passengers were bussed to city hotels yesterday to await developments, but many other passengers spent a second night at the airport after a day of behind-the-scenes negotiations failed. All flights have been suspended until further notice.