MANILA - HUNDREDS of tired but relieved Filipinos returned home from Thailand Tuesday after being stranded by anti-government protests that closed airports in Bangkok, affecting up to 350,000 tourists.

'I am just happy to be home,' said Filipino businesswoman Geraldine Makavinta who was on a business trip to Thailand when protesters blockaded Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport last week demanding that the Thai premier Somchai Wongsawat resign.

Ms Makavinta said she had been waiting to get out of Bangkok for five days.

'It was frustrating trying to get information as no one really knew what was going on.'

A group of Filipino overseas workers returning from Kuwait were in transit waiting for flights home when the demonstrators took over the airport on November 25.

Ms Geraldine Calago, 26, a domestic helper in Kuwait, said 'about 100 of us were on airport shuttle buses...when the buses were stopped and turned back to the main terminal.

'All of us were stuck and just had to wait,' she said.

'The demonstrators did not threaten us. It was quite peaceful really. We were put up in a hotel and just spent the time shopping.'

Some 500 people arrived in Manila early on Tuesday on two government-chartered flights.

At least two more flights are expected to leave Manila later today for Chiang Mai in northern Thailand and U-Tapao military base southeast of Bangkok to pick up a further 500 Filipinos.

Several nations stepped up emergency flights to evacuate frustrated holidaymakers.

Australian airline Qantas and Air France-KLM sent extra planes to Phuket, while Spain and France dispatched aircraft to the Vietnam War-era U-Tapao naval base, the main exodus point since last week. -- AFP