Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat called an urgent cabinet meeting after demonstrators seized Suvarnabhumi international airport on Tuesday night and blockaded the old Don Mueang airport early Thursday.
'The cabinet acknowledges that the initial economic losses from the closure of Suvarnabhumi is 100 billion baht,' Culture Minister Woravat Auapinyakul said after the meeting in the northern city of Chiang Mai.
'The cabinet agreed to invoke emergency rule at those two airports... and assigned the military to assist police to resolve the situation as soon as possible to contain further damage,' he told reporters.
An unnamed minister earlier confirmed that the government would declare an emergency at the two sites.
Demonstrators occupied the airports to press their demands for the resignation of the government, which they say is corrupt and a puppet of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. -- AFP