BANGKOK - THAI Airways said it will arrange a special flight on Friday for hundreds of Thai Muslims whose plans to go on the Hajj were disrupted by the closure of the two main airports by anti-government protesters.

The flight with about 250 pilgrims will depart from the Hat Yai airport the country's Muslim-majority south, said Thai Airways Executive Vice-President Narongsak Sangapong.

More such flights are planned to transport additional pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, including hundreds who have been stranded at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok since thousands of anti-government protesters stormed the complex and forced it to close on Tuesday. A second airport in Bangkok closed on Wednesday.

More than 5,000 Thai Muslim pilgrims had planned to make the Hajj but are unable to go because of the airport closures, according to the English daily Bangkok Post.

About 450 are stuck at Suvarnabhumi and another 200 at Hat Yai.

Monday is the last day they can arrive in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, a once-in-a-lifetime event for most Muslims. Typically, people wait for years to perform the Hajj, one of the main requirements of the faith.

'I beg (the alliance) to understand the spiritual needs of Thai Muslims,' Mr Pridi Chueaphudee, of the Central Islamic Committee of Thailand, told the newspaper.

'Some have sold their land for this once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage and now they end up being stranded at the airport.'

Thai Muslim leaders have warned that a failure to assist the pilgrims could damage relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

It could also further damage the Thai government's credibility in the country's south where Islamic militants have waged an insurgency since 2004.

More than 3,300 people, mostly civilians, have been killed as a result of the violence. Attacks have generally taken the form of drive-by shootings and small-scale bombings intended to frighten Buddhist residents into leaving the predominantly Muslim area.

Muslims in the three provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat - the majority in Buddhist Thailand's far south - accuse the central government of discrimination, especially in jobs and education. -- AP