Thai Political Crisis Worsens, Explosions Hit Leader's Compound

BANGKOK, Thailand — Airlines were flying dozens of empty planes out of Bangkok's international airport Monday as authorities struggled to clear it of protesters to reopen international links and move 100,000 travelers stranded by the crisis, the airport said.

Some 30 planes had been flown out starting Sunday and an additional 50 were to be moved later Monday, some of them to protest-free airports elsewhere in Thailand so that stranded travelers can fly out of the country, said Serirat Prasutanont, director of the Airports Authority of Thailand.

Thailand's political crisis escalated Sunday when thousands of pro-government activists converged on Bangkok to counter rival protesters who seized the city's two airports last week and have forced the prime minister to run the country from outside the capital.

Explosions Sunday targeting the anti-government protesters injured at least 51 people, officials said, with blasts hitting the prime minister's compound in Bangkok where the protesters have camped out since August and a road near the occupied domestic airport.

Neither the army nor Thailand's revered king have stepped in to resolve the crisis _ or offered the firm backing that Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat needs to resolve the leadership vacuum.

The problem runs deeper than the airport closures. Political violence has added to the sense of drift bordering on anarchy that pervades the country's administration, and has damaged Thailand's international image.

Thailand's foreign ministry planned to propose Tuesday the postponement of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, scheduled for mid-December in Thailand, ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdee told The Associated Press.

No one claimed responsibility for Sunday's blasts, but Suriyasai Katasila, a spokesman for the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy, blamed the government.

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The alliance says it will not give up until Somchai resigns, accusing him of being a puppet of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the alliance's original target. Thaksin, who is Somchai's brother-in-law, was deposed in a 2006 military coup and has fled the country to escape corruption charges.

Alliance protesters managed to shut down the international Suvarnabhumi airport last Tuesday, stranding scores of planes. Local newspapers said protesters allowed the airliners to leave the airport starting Sunday, but that the departing planes nevertheless dimmed their lights to avoid notice of anyone potentially violent.

Some countries evacuated nationals by land. The Australian embassy was helping stranded tourists in Bangkok travel by bus to the southern resort island of Phuket, where air traffic has not been disrupted, for onward travel to Australia.

"This is my 47th birthday today. This is also my first trip out of Australia and it is also my last," said a woman waiting for the buses who asked not to be named.

On Sunday, thousands of government supporters wearing red shirts, headbands and bandanas joined a rally against the protest alliance. Some danced and clapped to music blaring from loudspeakers. They have adopted red to distinguish themselves from their yellow-garbed rivals.

"This is a movement against anarchical force and the people behind it," government spokesman Nattawut Sai-Kua told The Associated Press. "They want anarchy so that the army is forced to intervene and stage a coup."

But the army, which overthrew Thaksin among other previous coups, says it has no plans to oust Somchai. Still, the military has failed to back up Somchai's efforts to restore order.

Also staying out of the crisis has been revered 80-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who as a constitutional monarch plays no open role in politics but who has healed social fractures in the past.

"The country is so divided. The only uniting figure we have is the king. If he tells both sides to step back, they will," said 36-year-old coffee shop owner Natta Siritanond.

Nattawut, the government spokesman, denied rumors that Somchai left the country, saying he was operating out of the northern city of Chiang Mai and traveling to Nakhon Phanom province, a northeastern province 600 kilometers (370 miles) from Bangkok.

The Federation of Thai Industries has estimated the airports takeover is costing the country $57 million to $85 million a day. Some of its members have suggested withholding taxes in protest.

The supporters of the alliance are largely middle-class citizens who say Thailand's electoral system is susceptible to vote-buying and argue that the rural majority _ the Thaksin camp's political base _ is not sophisticated enough to cast ballots responsibly.

They have proposed discarding the one-man, one-vote system in favor of appointing most legislators, fostering resentment among rural voters.

The divisions have slipped into deadly violence. So far, six people have been killed in bomb attacks, clashes with police and street battles between government opponents and supporters.

___

Associated Press reporters Vijay Joshi and Michael Casey contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS spelling of airport director to Serirat in graf 2)

Comments

[DFL]

It's a scary world now, thank goodness back here the adults will soon be in charge again!

[LeeCalif]

The anti-government protesters are there to protest against a government they consider extremely corrupt. They actually have been very peaceful in their demonstrating.

Unfortunately, The Guardian's reporter suggested the government should commit violence against the protesters to break up the peaceful blockade.

[LeeCalif]

I was f****d up. It appears that these demonstrators are trying to disrupt a democratically elected govt. which provides social and economic stability to all stratas of their society.
And I guess the upper class (protesters) are p.o ed about fairness taking place in their society, for a change.

I'm still disturbed by the Guardian's stance on this as long as the protesters remain peaceful.

[nomoredead]

I feel sorry for these people.....there is about 6 bathrooms in the whole airport ! I've been there several times.

[Catamount]

you should post on gawker...

[2012isnear]

are you serious???? this is an amazing airport which handles huge volume of passengers daily. ive been through this airport at least 30 times and its nothing short of fantastic. 6 bathrooms in the whole airport? maybe you mean only 6 bathrooms in the VIP lounge.

[3szoom]

We should have done this in the US in 2003.

[Duey Moore]

On this issue I totally agree with you and in fact, this is what I am all about, taking to the streets. Having lived in Thailand for about half of the year for the past 12 years, I know Thai folks well. One thing is for sure, they are proud and they will truly die for what they believe in and they do not FEAR the government. Like it or not on how they went about it, they succeeded in taking away the power of one of the world's most corrupt individuals, Thaksin, whole stole billions from the Thai people. You can say they did damage to the country, but it is nothing in comparison to what would have happened had they not done what they did.

Thai folks have balls, Americans do not. Most Americans are just going to continue to sit back and let all they have be taken from them, just watch and see. No balls, no rights, no wonder. We should hire Thais to come to America and get things done for us because nobody here is gonna do squat except post and comment.

[Serfie]

This is what the Asian Human Right Commission said about these so-called protesters http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=873:

The alliance has exhibited a number of features that from past lessons of Thailand and other countries around the world pose grave dangers to the future of the country's imperilled democracy. Of these, the following can be said.

1. They spring from a far-right ideology that has for decades driven successive military-bureaucratic administrations in Thailand, which dramatic changes to political and social life of the last two decades have increasingly threatened.

2. Their coordinated attacks and actions on the pretext of self-defence and national interest are designed to cause a widespread feeling of insecurity and uncertainty and allow reactionary elite forces to push Thailand back to a 1980s model of "half-sail" semi-elected government.

3. The alliance leaders have occupied the public space and forced people throughout Thailand to either take sides for or against them.

Some commentators and opponents of the alliance have described its agenda as fascist. This is not an exaggeration. Experience shows that the types of systemic changes and regimes that follow such movements, although they may not describe themselves as fascist, have fascist qualities. Indeed, successive dictatorships in Thailand's modern history appreciated, expressed and used many fascist symbols and policies, and the residue of these can be found in the language and behaviour of the alliance leaders today.

[sakonjack]

That report is a load of bollocks. I've lived in Thailand now for ten years, five of which has been spent in the Northeast (Isaan)--the poorest area of the country, which is so often misunderstood. The PAD is seeking some way out of a democratic system that patently is not working.

The vote buying apparatus is systemic in the Northeast. And the people are trapped. The local officials PPP (former TRT) make their rounds before the election date to buy a promise and the another payment comes on the election day when you cast your vote. This is all recorded in a book, so if you refuse, your refusal is duly noted, and you can expect no help from your official if you didn't vote for them.

The people here cheered when Thaksin was given the boot, even though they voted for him, because their vote was coerced. Now that the economy is weakening the Isaan people are realizing that all Thaksin did was get them further into debt by giving them easier credit.

When you see so called "red-shirt" crowds and rallies with people from the Northeast supporting the current government, the majority have been paid to attend. A big truck just came by today offering people 500 baht and free whiskey to come along on a trip to Bangkok to protest. And when you are a young poor Thai guy, with nothing else going on, you say, sure, why not?

[sithone]

So would you agree with the leader of the PAD - Mr. Sondhi - that your friends in Sakorn Nakorn lack intelligence and should not be given the right to vote?

""The problem is not that upcountry voters don"t know how to use their vote, and that the result is distorted by patronage and vote-buying,"" argued Chang Noi in "The Nation" newspaper. ""The problem is that they have learnt to use the vote only too well. Over four national elections, they have chosen very consistently and very rationally.""

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43874

[Duey Moore]

Word. A man speaking from first hand knowledge. The point is to take power away from Toxin Shinawarta. One of the world's biggest thieves ever and a man who blatantly stole from his own people.

[sithone]

This is not democracy. The platform of the PAD includes a plan to disenfranchise millions of rural voters, and return political rule to the traditional elite families in Bangkok. Anyone concerned about human rights should be very wary of the PAD.

I fully support the democratic election of the Democratic Party of Thailand, but I do not support a military coup, or a return feudalism.

[redneckliberalpostbush]

Gee, thank goodness here in America our politicians have Homeland Security, FBI, ATF, NSA, Patriot Act, JTTF. DMV, and local police and firefighters to keep us under control while they screw us around! Plus our corporate slavemasters!

[darthdarcy]

Yeah ain't we lucky..!

[KarlaElisa]

I love the thai people and am pleased to see them standing up to the corruption in their system.

My prayers go out to them that may accomplish what they have set out to do.

I wish I was there. I can't think of a better place to be 'stuck'.

[bosunj]

I fully agree. As a ten year Bangkok resident and refugee from the Land of the Formerly Free I unequivocally support Thai people in their justified desire to throw off the remnants of the uber-corrupt Thaksin regime. Those of you getting your news fro MSM in America aren't getting the whole story. Rather, you're only getting the "company line".

Virtually all nations other than US, Australia and UK have sent aircraft to pick up their citizens at U-Tapao military airport. US, Australian and UK embassies contine to deny their citizens any assistance and do nothing more than petition the Thai government to attack the airports!

It's too bad those still back in American don't have the courage Thai people have. America would not be in the situation it now finds itself.

[stargazer13]

Thai people no how to get rid of there corrupt government officials