Thai Anti-government Protesters Defy Police Warning to Leave Airports

Police in Thailand ordered protesters to leave Bangkok's two airports yesterday to allow more than 160,000 stranded travelers to fly home.

But the authorities showed little sign that they were about to move in forcefully to take control of the airports, which have been closed for six days amid mounting frustration of foreign governments concerned about their nationals.

The rising alarm came as more than 10,000 of the beleaguered government's supporters gathered for a mass rally in Bangkok, leading to fears of clashes with their rivals holding the airports and the prime minister's Government House headquarters. Fifty-one anti-government protesters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) were wounded - four of them seriously - when a grenade blew up in the early hours of yesterday at Government House.

Some foreign governments sent emergency planes to rescue their citizens, while airlines put on 60 flights to pick up stranded passengers from a tiny Vietnam War-era airbase 90 miles south-east of Bangkok. Australia's foreign minister, Stephen Smith, expressed dismay over Thailand's inability to evacuate his country-folk caught in the chaos. "It's very frustrating for us and ... for those stranded Australians. Some are becoming increasingly distressed," he said.

The deepening crisis has left the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, powerless and isolated, governing from the northern city of Chiang Mai for fear of a coup. It has also left Thai businesses, and the tourist industry in particular, reeling.

Even efforts by the Thai airports authority to negotiate with the protesters occupying Suvarnabhumi - Thailand's main international airport - to allow 88 trapped international aircraft to fly out empty were rebuffed.

The PAD demonstrators, who are demanding the prime minister step down, invaded the airport last Tuesday in their most audacious act in months of protests, which was followed a day later by the seizure of the domestic hub at Don Muang, in effect cutting off the Thai capital.

Police attempts to take back control of Suvarnabhumi, which handles 700 flights and 125,000 passengers every day, appeared half-hearted, even after the sacking of the national police chief.

On Saturday, 150 riot police manning a checkpoint near the airport fled when they were outnumbered by protesters in yellow shirts, showing their allegiance to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who let down police van tyres. But yesterday the police issued an ultimatum to the protesters in a statement banning gatherings of more than five people and warning that offenders would be imprisoned or fined if they did not disperse.

The national deputy police chief, Lt Gen Pongpat Pongjaroen, also said officers were in discussions with the PAD to end the stalemate, though one of the protesters' leaders, Chamlong Srimuang, a former major-general, denied any talks.

"There is no negotiation on the table," a defiant Chamlong told thousands of PAD supporters camped among Suvarnabhumi's silent check-in desks. "Please be patient. As soon as the government is out of power, we will go home immediately."