FOR Madam Ong Ang Toh, what was supposed to be a three-day trip to Phuket became a much longer and costlier affair for her family of five.

She spent nearly $2,000 on her extended hotel stay and expenses for the two days she had to wait for the next earliest flight back home after their scheduled flight was cancelled last Saturday.

The managing director of a manufacturing firm was relieved that the airport at Phuket has reopened and she and her family will be on the 10.15am SilkAir flight to Singapore today after waiting in 'limbo' over the weekend.

'I was getting concerned about how long we had to stay here,' Madam Ong, who is in her 40s, told The Straits Times.

Speaking from Phuket, she said that she was also worried about her 14-month-old grandson whose milk powder was running out and she was not sure if it was safe to go into town to buy more.

Madam Ong is one of hundreds of Singaporeans who were left stranded on the popular Thai resort island over the weekend after anti-government protesters forced the Phuket International Airport to close.

Flights resumed yesterday evening both in and out of Phuket, a favourite tourist destination among Singaporeans.

SilkAir, which operates four daily flights to and from Phuket, had cancelled all its flights yesterday. After the airport was reopened, the airline arranged for three return flights last night to help clear the backlog of its estimated 600 stranded passengers. It will resume its normal schedule today.

Singapore-based budget carrier Tiger Airways will also be resuming its Phuket operations today, giving priority to passengers already booked on these flights, said its spokesman.

Budget airline Air Asia resumed its flights last night with the first flight to Kuala Lumpur at 9.10pm returning with more than 100 passengers. Its flight to Singapore returns today.

As flights resumed, travel agents frantically tried to make alternative arrangements for their customers.

Singaporean David Yeo, managing director of David Best travel agency located in Phuket, said half of his 51 Singaporean clients whose flights were delayed have been sent back to Singapore on the first available flight he could book them on.

Before Mr Yeo heard about the reopening of the airport, he had arranged for four 12-seater buses to transport his customers to Bangkok on a 12-hour land journey, from where they would then fly to Singapore yesterday evening.

'Everyone's happy that they can go back earlier and I'm not so stressed now,' he added.

His staff spent the weekend trying to locate customers at their hotels to keep them updated. Mr Yeo estimates his losses over the weekend from cancelled bookings could come to $40,000.

In Singapore, travel agencies were working overtime to make alternative arrangements for their customers.

SA Tours is working with its Phuket land operator to offer alternative dates or refunds, its spokesman said.

Chan Brothers Travel had just one person whose flight was delayed and has since informed his relatives about the delay and placed him in an alternative hotel.

Marketing manager Peter Tay, 36, who had planned to go on holiday to Phuket with his wife and seven-year-old daughter on Thursday has put his plans on hold for now.

'I think I'll wait,' he said. 'I think I'll bring them to Sentosa instead.'

Travel agents and Singaporeans in Phuket told The Straits Times that the island resort appeared safe.

Singaporean Ong Ang Toh said shops were still open and life 'appeared normal'.

jessicaj@sph.com.sg