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BANGKOK: Supporters of Thailand's embattled government camped out in Bangkok for a second day Monday, raising the stakes against rivals who have occupied the capital's airports for a week.
A number of nations sent emergency flights to evacuate thousands of tourists as the anti-government activists showed no signs of heeding police orders and official appeals to end the airport blockade.
Demonstrators allowed dozens of empty planes stranded at Suvarnabhumi international airport to leave, but forces backing beleaguered Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat added a new wrinkle to the crisis.
About 15,000 red-shirted pro-government activists had converged on city hall in downtown Bangkok on Sunday night, and around 1,500 of them remained there on Monday morning, police said.
"We will rally again this afternoon at the same place. Right now we are allowing our people to rest," Chinawat Haboonpard, a leader of the pro-government group, told AFP.
Their presence had raised fears that further bloodshed could deepen Thailand's bitter political crisis, with clashes between the two camps in a northern city last week leaving one person dead.
Chinawat said the group had not yet decided whether to launch a blockade of the Constitutional Court, which is due Tuesday to wrap up a case that could see the ruling party disbanded for vote fraud and Somchai banned from politics.
"We have to consult among ourselves for the best solution," said Chinawat, whose pro-government group is called the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).
There were no reports of clashes between the group and their yellow-shirted foes in the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which has occupied both of Bangkok's airports since last week in its bid to topple the government.
The PAD says it will not leave the terminals until Somchai resigns, alleging his elected government is a proxy for ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives abroad, but still wields enormous influence.
Somchai, who is himself stranded in the northern city of Chiang Mai where he is currently running a virtual government-in-exile, is Thaksin's brother-in-law.
Thaksin and his allies draw huge electoral support from Thailand's largely rural northern poor, while the PAD is backed by the Bangkok business elite and middle classes, along with elements in the military and the palace.
The PAD had allowed 37 out of 88 airliners stranded at Suvarnabhumi to leave, starting on Sunday, an Airports of Thailand spokeswoman said. Twelve of those remaining belong to foreign airlines.
Somchai declared a state of emergency at the airport and the older Don Mueang domestic hub in Bangkok last week but police have taken no action, leading to the sacking of Thailand's police chief.
Thais may also be waiting for any sign on a way out of the crisis from the deeply-respected King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is due to give a birthday-eve speech on Thursday.
The crisis has left about 100,000 airline passengers stranded in Thailand and caused massive damage to the economy. The government says one million Thais could lose their jobs and that tourism arrivals could drop by half next year.
Australian airline Qantas Monday sent an extra plane to the southern Thai resort town of Phuket to bring home hundreds of travellers, while Air France-KLM said it would operate a similar flight.
The French government said a heavy transport plane would fly from the Vietnam War-era U-Tapao naval base about 200 kilometres (125 miles) southeast of Bangkok, which has been the main exodus point since last week.
Among the stranded travellers were four-times Olympic champion cyclist Chris Hoy and his girlfriend. They escaped on a plane operated by his sponsor, DHL logistics, from Phuket to Singapore.
Thailand is meanwhile set to decide this week whether a major Southeast Asian summit due to take place in mid-December in Chiang Mai can go ahead.
- AFP/yb
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