BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) – Anti-government demonstrators in Thailand declared victory and said they would end their occupation of the country’s two main airports Wednesday after a court decision forced the country’s prime minister from office.
Travelers were the clearest immediate beneficiaries of Tuesday’s developments. Thai authorities have been running flights in and out of a naval air base at U-Tapao east of Bangkok, but its limited facilities left many travelers looking more like refugees than tourists.
Vudhibhandhu Vichairatana, the chairman of the Airports of Thailand, said Suvarnabhumi international airport will resume operations Friday. He called the plan a birthday gift for King Bhumibol, who turns 81 on Dec. 5. The airport reopened to cargo flights Tuesday.
Travelers Jennifer Cooper, 37 and Peter Cooper, 45, from Melbourne, Australia, took it all in stride despite being trapped for days at the airport.
“It was a free-for-all. People were behind the counters playing with the computers. They were everywhere, back in the duty-free area. Who knows what they did?” Peter said.
“We love Thailand,” Jennifer said. “But when we come back we’ll have contingency plans for escaping,” she added, with a laugh.
We are still in Bangkok, playing “refugee” until further notice (safe and sound). Each morning, Brian and Stacy Alonzo, and Stephanie Fisk are scurrying around – dealing with the airlines, the embassy, and contacts at AIM to figure out what our next moves will be each day…Kudos to them for all their hard work!!
Here is the latest news regarding the airport, but no word yet on how that will affect us:
