http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/25/asia/thai.phphttp://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Thailand-Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi-International-Airport-Closed-After-Protesters-Storm-Terminal/Article/200811415161144?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15161144_Thailand%3A_Bangkok_Suvarnabhumi_International_Airport_Closed_After_Protesters_Storm_TerminalThousands Stuck At Bangkok Airport
Personalise your news
Help
Use the drop down menu below to filter stories and videos the way you want - when you want it!
Pick your News
12:03am UK, Wednesday November 26, 2008
At least 3,000 passengers are stranded at Bangkok's international airport after anti-government protesters took control of the building.
Protesters block airport
Protesters blocked entrance to Bangkok's international airport
The operator, Airports of Thailand, said they had shut it down after anti-government protesters surged into the main terminal building.
At least 2,000 supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) had surrounded the airport as part of their six-month campaign to oust the government.
A spokesman for the operator said:"We have already informed the airlines who operate from it.
"Flights in the air will be diverted to either Chiang Mai, Phuket or other airports, but it closed as of 9pm (2pm GMT)."
British Airways told Sky News that all flights scheduled to land at the airport have cancelled or diverted.
Those flights that would have stopped in Bangkok en route to other destinations have been diverted to Singapore.
Anti-Government Protests Turn Violent In Thailand
The airport closure comes after PAD demonstrators earlier opened fire on government supporters, injuring at least 11 people.
At least two security guards fired half a dozen rounds from handguns at rival protesters.
Fighting between the two groups started when government supporters threw rocks at a truck carrying their rivals as it was returning from a rally at the airport.
The airport has served as temporary government headquarters since the alliance occupied the prime minister's office in late August.
"It is time to make a clear-cut choice between good and evil, between those who are loyal and traitors," PAD leader Somsak Kosaisuk told supporters at the rally.
The PAD opposes the current government because it considers it to be a puppet of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in 2006.