Thai Worries - (UPDATE) Political Upheaval Shuts Down Int. Airport

PAD leader and Democrat party-list MP Somkiat Pongpaiboon announced from a stage at Suvarnabhumi after the terminal was overrun that the prime minister had lost legitimacy to administer the country because he was a proxy of convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as well as his brother-in-law. As soon as he arrives in the country, he must announce his resignation.
Mr Somkiat called the Suvarnabhumi operation a "Hiroshima" war. If it fails to overthrow the government, he said the PAD has a back-up plan called "Nagasaki", but he declined to disclose any details.
Given the significance of those two Japanese cities in the history of warfare, it's surely quite ominous.

Originally posted by FRIGHTENER

I wonder who's responsible for that bomb, gov or pad? Either way, it's a very terrible thing. No matter who set it off, the situation usually escalates after such a rotten thing. The king is needed.

Since Friday, the U-Tapao naval base 190 kilometres (118 miles) southeast of Bangkok has been the only way in or out of the country for tourists stranded by an anti-government blockade of the capital's main airports.

Travellers who arrived here found crowds of tired and angry passengers, armed guards, piles of garbage, mountains of luggage -- and an increasingly tense and surreal atmosphere.

Built in the 1960s by the US air force and equipped with just one X-ray scanner for bags, the airbase can only handle around 40 flights a day, compared to the 700-flight capacity of Bangkok's gleaming Suvarnabhumi international airport.

But thanks to the demonstrations, it's all that Thailand has to offer.

"I think it's stupid," said Danny Mosaffi, 57, from New York City. "They have killed tourism in this country, the authorities should go do something. Nobody is going to come here."

Thai authorities say more than 100,000 travellers -- both Thai and foreign -- have had flights cancelled since the occupation of Suvarnabhumi on Tuesday in what the protesters are calling their "final battle" against the government.

Some travel agents bussed passengers down to U-Tapao, which is near the tourist resort of Pattaya, but with information proving difficult to come by in Bangkok, others came on their own more in hope than expectation.

Huge traffic jams built up outside the sprawling compound. Thai soldiers with M16 rifles guarded the entrance to the airport to prevent anti-government protesters from gaining access, as travellers lugged their bags under the sun.

Once inside the terminal, it was standing room only. Travellers were unsure where they should check in. Long queues wound around the lone luggage scanner, where soldiers tried to hold back the surging crowd.

"It's complete chaos and pandemonium," said Bonnie Chan, 29, from San Diego, California.

"We've been given incorrect information from the airlines. The US embassy says they can't help us. We're high and dry. The airlines keep giving us the run-around."

With no departures board available, airline employees held up signs that said "Final boarding call, Moscow," while other staff stood inside the security area and pressed signs against a glass window calling for passengers to board a flight to Hong Kong.

At one point, a group of unruly passengers pushed their way through a door to the security screening area after an airport employee announced the final boarding call for a flight to Taipei.

One woman, caught in the surge, began to scream, and the soldiers forced the doors shut.

"We've treated six patients today," said Nan Soontornnon, 24, of Bangkok Hospital in Pattaya, standing with a doctor and nurse in a makeshift clinic.

"Passengers have had headaches, exhaustion, and other problems, like fainting. But this place has protection from the soldiers -- Suvarnabhumi doesn't," she said.

U-Tapao's only other selling point was when female employees from one enterprising Pattaya hotel, taking advantage of the captive audience, put on a traditional Thai dance performance.

Some false flag operations definately are there. The blast in October claiming two lives, explained by teargas grenades gone astray

The U-Tapao base has been opened for civil traffic, but as it served well for delivering bombs over Vietnam, it doesn't serve the purpose of evacuating human beings that well.

There's plenty of info about on people trying to get out, but what about those who are scheduled to go there in the coming days?
Like myself.. I have close ties to Thailand and a family there ...and a ticket for next Sunday.