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BANGKOK: Thousands of Thai police Saturday surrounded and cordoned off Bangkok's main airport after scuffles with protesters, raising fears that days of crippling demonstrations could end violently.
Frustrated tourists struggled to escape Thailand through a Vietnam War-era naval base as airport authorities announced the besieged Suvarnabhumi international airport would remain closed for at least two more days.
Premier Somchai Wongsawat warned that the protests against his administration risked casting Thailand into international isolation.
"To lay siege to the airports is extremely dangerous. It will make foreign countries lose confidence in Thailand. They will not fly their aircraft in or allow their citizens to travel here," Somchai told reporters.
Police in the morning were forced by angry demonstrators to abandon five large trucks near a checkpoint, which were left with their tyres deflated, and another security post at the airport.
Late Saturday 2,000 police officers were deployed to set up four more checkpoints on the road to Suvarnabhumi, airport security commander Major General Rarshane Reunkomol told AFP.
That came after police issued the protesters with warnings overnight to leave the area.
"We have set them up just for weapons checks," Rarshane told AFP at a checkpoint about five kilometres (three miles) from the three-billion-dollar terminal, which opened in 2006 with hopes of becoming a major regional hub.
"The government is still in the process of negotiations and I have asked my men not to use force whatever happens. The gunfire will not be heard from police," Rarshane added.
An AFP correspondent saw some police carrying M16 assault rifles and pistols. When asked why, Rarshane said: "Just for protection."
The anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement again rejected pleas to negotiate, saying it would stay at Suvarnabhumi and a smaller domestic airport until Somchai resigns.
The PAD, a loose coalition with the backing of elements in the military, the palace and the urban middle classes, says the government is a puppet of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006.
"If we have to die today, I am willing to die. This is a fight for dignity," Sondhi Limthongkul, Thaksin's arch-foe and the founder of the PAD, said on his private television station.
The crisis has reached an apparent stalemate, with the government seeking a peaceful solution but also under pressure to tackle opponents who have already cost Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy billions of dollars.
Somchai on Friday dismissed national police chief General Patcharawat Wongsuwan due to the lack of police action, adding to the sense of paralysis.
Rumours of a coup swept the country this week after Somchai rejected calls from the army chief to call snap elections, but General Anupong Paojinda said military action would not solve the rifts in Thai society.
Thaksin, who is in exile to avoid corruption charges, waded in by warning in an interview with a US blogger Friday that "there will be bloodshed" if there is another coup.
A Thai pro-government group vowed Saturday to hold a rally in central Bangkok on Sunday, raising further fears of clashes.
Analysts said the protagonists may wait until the birthday at the end of the next week of Thailand's widely revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, when he traditionally gives a national address.
While officially above politics, he has stepped in in the 1970s and in 1992 to end military dictatorships to end bloody crackdowns, and also implied that elections in April 2006 won by Thaksin were undemocratic.
At the one-runway U-Tapao naval base about 190 kilometres (118 miles) southeast of Bangkok, thousands of angry tourists scrambled to get on to a handful of flights leaving the country.
"We were originally told we were booked on a flight but they are reselling people tickets," said Mark Underwood, 23, from Southampton in England. "We have no money. I am annoyed and we want to get home."
- AFP/yt
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