BANGKOK - THAI aviation authorities on Thursday gave airlines the green light to use a naval base in the east of the country after protesters blocked off both of Bangkok's airports.
Several planes had already landed at the U-Tapao airbase following the seizure by demonstrators of Don Mueang domestic airport on Thursday and the main Suvarnabhumi Airport on Tuesday night.
Thai haj pilgrims find airport chaos a test of faith
BANGKOK - HUNDREDS of Thai Muslims on a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca were spending a third night sleeping rough at Bangkok's international airport on Thursday, victims of anti-government protests that have paralysed air travel.
Around 700 haj pilgrims, many elderly and frail but hoping to complete one of Islam's most important pillars of faith before they die, prepared to camp out for a third night in the terminal building at Suvarnabhumi airport.
'It's already begun,' Mr Chaisak Angkasuwan, director general of the Civil Aviation Department, told AFP.
'Many flights have landed there and I have authorised more than 20 airlines to utilise U-Tapao airport.'
The protests have left more thousands of passengers stranded in the troubled kingdom, with around 3,000 of them having to spend the night in Suvarnabhumi before they were evacuted on Wednesday.
Mr Chaisak said he had asked immigration and customs to reinforce their staff at U-Tapao, which is located in the eastern province of Rayong and operated by the Thai Navy.
Thai Airways International said its Bangkok-Los Angeles flight landed at U-Tapao early on Thursday.
Thailand's tourism minister says authorities will begin flying thousands of stranded tourists out of one or two military bases in the next 48 hours.
Mr Weerasak Kohsurat says tourists with 'urgent needs' will be taken to U-Tapao air force base, 140kilometres south-east of Bangkok and possibly an Air Force base at Kamphaeng Saen, a northern suburb of Bangkok. -- AFP, REUTERS
