Thailand declares state of emergency

AFP and The Age report that Thailand’s government has agreed to declare a state of emergency at two Bangkok airports occupied by protesters, as an escalating political crisis set off swirling rumours of a coup.

Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat on Thursday approved the order after an urgent cabinet meeting to discuss how to tackle the anti-government demonstrators who have paralysed the kingdom and left thousands of tourists stranded.

The military denied speculation it was about to topple Somchai, who has rejected a call by the powerful army chief to hold fresh elections, but the government still urged soldiers to remain in their barracks.

“The cabinet agreed to invoke emergency rule at those two airports,” Culture Minister Woravat Auapinyakul said after the meeting in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Somchai “assigned the military to assist police to resolve the situation as soon as possible to contain further damage,” the minister added.

Somchai was due to address the nation on Thursday.

Protesters from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement seized control of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport on Tuesday night and blockaded the old Don Mueang airport earlier Thursday.

A coalition backed by elements of the palace, the army and Thailand’s Bangkok-based elite, the PAD accuses the government elected last December of being a corrupt puppet for ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The military ousted Thaksin in a coup in 2006 after similar PAD protests, and as tensions rose on Thursday the government insisted that Somchai was not about to sack army commander General Anupong Paojinda.

“I would like to inform all military personnel to carry out your duty as usual. Do not make any movement or be on standby.”  “This is to stop the coup rumours,” government spokesman Nattawut Saikuar said on national radio.

An army spokesman urged political reconciliation, saying it neither wanted to move against protesters at the two airports nor risk a confrontation with government supporters if it staged a coup.

“The military have moved tanks for strategic purposes but I can confirm that there is no coup and the military has not been ordered to be on standby,” Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd told AFP.

He said that the tanks had moved through an area of the capital near parliament as part of a display for army cadets.

PAD supporters effectively cut off Bangkok from the rest of the world when they blockaded Don Mueang airport in a failed attempt to prevent ministers from flying to Chiang Mai, a Thaksin stronghold.

The PAD, which began its protests against the government in May, said that even a military takeover would not stop their crippling protests.

“Even if there is a coup, the PAD will continue our protest because we have our people with us. Leaders would meet to discuss what to do,” protest leader Somsak Kosaisuk told cheering crowds at Suvarnabhumi.

Thai aviation authorities on Thursday gave airlines approval to use the U-Tapao naval base instead, saying several flights had already landed there including a Thai Airways flight from Los Angeles.

But Woravat said the losses from the closure of Suvarnabhumi alone were set to top 100 billion baht ($A43.18 million). Airport authorities said it would remain closed until Saturday evening at the earliest.

As both sides refuse to back down, concerns deepened for the kingdom’s economy, vital tourism industry and diplomatic ties.

Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, meanwhile, questioned whether Thailand was still a suitable place to hold the regional ASEAN summit in December.

The PAD has vowed to stay at three protest sites – Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang and Somchai’s Government House offices in central Bangkok which they seized in August – until the premier quits.

Most of the 3,000 stranded passengers were bussed to hotels on Wednesday, and thousands of tourists are now trying to escape Thailand.

“I can’t wait for the airport to reopen any more. I have to find a way to get out of this country,” said one business traveller from the Philippines who had turned up at Suvarnabhumi Airport in the hope of getting a flight.

A Report by The Mole from AFP and The Age