FOREIGN nations are rushing to evacuate their nationals being stranded in Thailand after anti-government protesters closed down Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports.

Australian airline Qantas on Monday sent an extra plane to Thailand to bring home hundreds of travellers trapped in the airport.

Cyclist Chris Hoy caught up in Thailand protests LONDON - FOUR-times Olympic champion cyclist Chris Hoy was among thousands of people stranded at Bangkok airport because of protests, it emerged on Sunday. Hoy and his girlfriend were on holiday in the country and were due to fly out of Bangkok, but the airport was shut down by anti-government protests, his agent Ricky Cowan told the Scotsman newspaper. ... more

With anti-government demonstrators continuing to paralyse traffic at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports, the Qantas Airbus will instead land at the southern resort town of Phuket.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told Sky News: 'I suspect that there will be other Australians still stranded there, so we're looking at what further measures we can take to relieve their frustration and their distress.'

Mr Smith said Australia was continuing to put pressure on Thai Airways authorities and the Thai Tourist Authority to help resolve the issue but that the closure of Bangkok's airports was a major stumbling block.

While some international flights have left Thailand from the northern city of Chiang Mai and a military airport in U-Tapao closer to Bangkok, Mr Smith said there were difficulties with both these approaches.

He said the situation at U-Tapao, a Vietnam-era naval base equipped to manage only about 40 flights per day, was 'effectively chaos'.

Trade Minister Simon Crean said that Australia remained frustrated by Thai authorities, and that Canberra was watching the situation in Bangkok very closely.

Also today, France will send a heavy-transport aircraft to fly out stranded nationals.

'The special plane will bring back our compatriots ... and those in the most pressing situations will be given priority,' a statement said, adding that the plane would leave on Monday afternoon and return on Wednesday.

It will carry from Paris a crisis management team to beef up the French embassy in Bangkok, doctors attached to the ministry and rescue workers. The flight will 'complement efforts by airlines' to help stranded visitors, it added.

China has also acted to retrieve up to 3,000 nationals stranded in Bangkok.

Four Chinese mainland carriers have sent nine planes to Bangkok's international airport, according to Xinhua news agency said.

Meanwhile Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has ordered her foreign department to account for hundreds of Filipinos among those stranded in the Thai capital and asked that they be brought home to Manila from the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Japan's two major airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said on Sunday they are organising flights from the U-Tapao air base to bring back tourists stranded by mass protests.

Spain will send three planes, two military aircraft and a chartered plane to Thailand to bring back some 300 of its citizens.

'Considering the special circumstances in Thailand, the Spanish government has decided to take action so that Spanish nationals affected by the continuing closure of the Bangkok airports can return home,' said a foreign ministry statement. -- The Nation/ANN, AFP