A SINGAPOREAN couple were among the passengers who boarded the first commercial flight from Singapore to Bangkok yesterday after Thailand's Suvarnabhumi international airport was re-opened recently.

Newly-weds Mr Firwan Tang, 29, and Ms Tinie Amir, 24, had planned to leave for Bangkok last Friday for a short honeymoon.

But their plans were disrupted by events in Bangkok.

Anti-government protestors had staged a sit-in and seized control of the Suvarnabhumi International Airport from Nov 25 to Dec 3, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Full services were resumed only yesterday.

'We were waiting until everything is okay,' said Mr Tang, an engineering assistant.

He did not feel it was unsafe going there, saying: 'They (protestors) are against their own government.'

As of 6pm yesterday, 10 flights had taken off from here to Bangkok. Most passengers on those flights expressed the same sentiment.

Mr Jim Killory, 54, who is based in Singapore as an engineer, had planned a short getaway for this long weekend. 'I think any sort of passions are directed at various political parties and not foreigners.'

Self-employed Mr Lim Chim Huat, 43, who was travelling with his wife and two sons felt that everything would revert to normal after protestors leave the airport.

'They don't attack tourists,' he said. 'Thailand is the land of smiles.'

Thais returning to their country said the same thing.