HONG KONG - AIRLINES and national governments were on Tuesday battling to evacuate an estimated 350,000 tourists stranded in Thailand since protesters laid seige to the country's main international airport.
Flag carriers from several countries put on extra planes to get their nationals home - many using a Vietnam War-era airbase pressed into action after protesters shut down Suvarnabhumi international airport in their bid to topple a government they accuse of corruption and nepotism.
Filipinos stranded by Thai protest return home
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.
New Zealand air force may evacuate stranded Thailand tourists
WELLINGTON - A NEW Zealand air force plane will be sent to Southeast Asia for the possible evacuation of tourists stranded in Thailand, Prime Minister John Key said on Tuesday.
Mr Key told reporters he was not satisfied airlines would be able to evacuate the New Zealand tourists stranded by increasingly violent protests at Bangkok's two main airports.
SYDNEY - HUNDREDS of Australians stranded in Thailand by political protests were on Tuesday heading home after being picked up by a specially chartered Qantas flight, the airline said.
With Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport and domestic hub Don Mueang shut down by thousands of protesters, Qantas sent a plane to the southern resort city of Phuket to pick up the travellers.
TOKYO - OVER 5,000 Japanese travellers have managed to return from Thailand after being stranded by anti-government protests that closed airports, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
'Emergency flights have arrived since Saturday morning,' said a ministry official. 'By (Tuesday) morning, some 5,100 people had returned.'
Vietnam aircraft, buses take home citizens from Thailand
HANOI - VIETNAM has evacuated hundreds of citizens stranded in Thailand since protesters shut down major airports there, using two special flights and several overland buses, officials said on Tuesday.
A Vietnamese diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the communist government estimated about 400 to 500 of its nationals with travel plans had been stuck in Thailand because of the political turmoil.
At the military U-Tapao airport south-east of Bangkok queues snaked around the basic terminal and thousands of passengers jostled to get their luggage through one scanner.
Check-in facilities have also been opened at a hotel and a convention centre in Bangkok to try to work through the backlog of frustrated holidaymakers.
Some tourists were also flying out of provincial airports including Phuket and Chiang Mai.
France, Spain, China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam sent special flights to evacuate desperate citizens stuck in Thailand.
Over 5,000 Japanese travellers have so far managed to leave Thailand on emergency flights laid on by Japan Airlines and rival All Nippon Airways, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.
Thousands more Japanese nationals are believed to still be in Thailand, he added.
Hundreds of Australians were on Tuesday heading home after being picked up by a specially chartered Qantas flight, the airline said.
Qantas sent a plane to the southern resort city of Phuket to pick up 289 passengers home via Singapore, a Qantas spokeswoman said.
Singapore Airlines said on Tuesday it expected to continue twice-daily flights between Singapore and U-Tapao airport at least until Friday.
Its regional wing, SilkAir, said it would operate 13 extra flights from Tuesday to Sunday between Singapore and Phuket.
South Korea's Korean Air and Asiana Airlines put on 15 special flights to U-Tapao to evacuate some 3,750 stranded South Koreans.
Another 1,000 are still waiting to return home on four flights scheduled to leave the base, foreign ministry officials said.
France was expecting the return on Wednesday of a heavy-transport aircraft, the foreign ministry said.
'The special plane will bring back our compatriots... and those in the most pressing situations will be given priority,' a statement said.
Spain has sent two military aircraft and a chartered plane to evacuate around 600 people, the country's ambassador to Thailand has said.
A Chinese government official said Beijing was continuing to organise flights by commercial Chinese aircraft to pick up its nationals in Thailand.
'As of yesterday... we have sent a total of 11 planes to bring back about 3,100 Chinese citizens and will send a last plane this evening to pick up the final 260 Chinese citizens,' he said.
The government of Hong Kong Tuesday arranged four chartered flights from U-Tapao after receiving over 900 requests for help, a spokesman for the Security Bureau told AFP.
A Vietnamese diplomat said the communist government estimated up to 500 of its nationals were stuck in Thailand.
State-run Vietnam Airlines has sent two flights to U-Tapao and several large aircraft to the Laotian capital of Vientiane and to Cambodia's Phnom Penh and Siem Riep airports to pick up Vietnamese who left Bangkok by road, state media reported.
A New Zealand air force Hercules plane was expected to leave New Zealand late Tuesday and could be used to shuttle tourists from a Thai air force base east of Bangkok to Singapore or Malaysia.
The exact number of stranded New Zealanders was not known but it could be up to 300, said a government spokesman.
Taiwan's China Airlines and EVA Airways said they had brought back more than 4,000 passengers since Friday on extra flights from Chiang Mai and U-Tapao.
The Philippine government chartered four flights to help its citizens while Indonesian flag carrier Garuda said Tuesday it planned to send two flights to U-Tapao to pick up around 300 nationals. -- AFP
