Thai PM refuses to bow to airport protests
Thailand’s prime minister refused to step down tonight despite protesters bringing the country’s biggest airport to a standstill and a call for new elections from the army’s head.
Somchai Wongsawat appeared on TV just hours after returning from an overseas trip to declare he would not be forced out.
“My position is not important. But democratic values are,” he said.
General Anupong Paochinda, chief of the army, earlier met high-level government officials, academics, economists and security officials.
“The government should give the public a chance to decide in a fresh election,” he said afterwards.
A spokesman for the protesters also rejected the army chief’s solution, saying that new elections alone would not end the stand-off, calling for Somchai to resign unconditionally. He added that the group would not leave the airport, where thousands of travellers are stranded.
The takeover, which comes at the height of Thailand’s tourism season, threatens to further strain the industry, already reeling from months of political unrest and the global financial downturn.
Tourism makes up 6% of the economy, which grew at its slowest rate in more three years in the last quarter.
All flights were cancelled and frustrated passengers taken to hotels from Suvarnabhumi Airport, a major hub in Asia that normally averages 700 flights a day.
The protest group, the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), appears intent on forcing the military to intervene and bring down the elected regime.
“We sympathise with the passengers but this is a necessary move to save the nation,” protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul said. “If he doesn’t resign, I will not leave.”
A spokesman said later after a meeting of the alliance’s leaders that the group would also continue to hold the other two locations they have overrun: the prime minister’s office compound and another airport.
He added: “Dissolving the parliament does not solve the problem.... We do not want Somchai’s government, even as acting government before a fresh election is called.”
By late afternoon most of the 4,000 travellers, some who had been camped out since the night before, had left the airport to the protesters, a sea of matching yellow shirts who appeared to be preparing for a long stay.
They spread blankets on the floor, used luggage trolleys to carry boxes of water around the sprawling terminal and set up stands selling food and the plastic hand-clappers they use at rallies.
There was no word on when flights might resume.
Support for the protesters has been waning, and the group appears to be edging toward bigger confrontations – involving fewer though more aggressive followers - to challenge the government.
Airport director Serirat Prasutanont, who had tried to negotiate with the protesters to allow passengers to fly out, said the takeover “damaged Thailand’s reputation and its economy beyond repair”.
The airport, the 18th-busiest in the world, handled over 40 million passengers in 2007.
“We don’t have an estimate of financial loss, but it is greatly damaging,” said Vijit Naranong, honorary chairman of Tourism Council of Thailand.
The takeover happened overnight when demonstrators swarmed in, breaking through police lines and spilling into the passenger terminal.
A control tower official said 50 masked protesters armed with metal rods demanded to enter, seeking the prime minister’s flight schedule. Three were allowed in, but with flights cancelled, there were no controllers to provide the information and the protesters eventually left.
PAD has been trying to topple Somchai, accusing him of being the puppet of a predecessor, billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, who was convicted of corruption and other charges. The alliance said protesters would keep the airport closed until Somchai quits.
The alliance has staged several recent dramatic protests. It took over the prime minister’s office in late August and twice blockaded parliament – one time setting off street battles with police that left two people dead and hundreds injured.
