Thai police said yesterday that a Dutchman and two Canadians have been killed in two crashes while trying to flee Thailand after the blockade of Bangkok's two main airports last week by an anti-government group.

One van carrying tourists crashed on the way to the southern resort isle of Phuket, where airlines have put on extra flights to try and clear the backlog, while the Dutchman was killed in a taxi on his way by road to Malaysia.

The accidents have not stopped some of the 350,000 travellers estimated to have missed flights from rushing to try and get out of the capital.

Travel agent Sarin Pinatha is selling seats in a minivan down to the U-Tapao naval airport south-east of Bangkok - which has become the main hub for evacuating stranded holiday-makers - for about 500 baht (S$21).

'Nobody worries,' she said. 'If an accident happens, it happens. But nobody worries about it.'

Ms Sarin said her drivers are desperate to replace the money they would normally make carting people to Suvarnabhumi international airport, and are not concerned about safety. Tourists also expressed few qualms.

Mr Tairjing Siripanich, secretary-general of the Thai road safety organisation Don't Drive Drunk Foundation, said Thailand has one of the highest traffic death tolls in the world, with an average of 13,000 road deaths a year.

'I would like to advise tourists to take public transport such as the inter-province buses and trains. Even though it is time-consuming, that is the safest mode of transportation at the moment,' he said.

'I don't advise tourists to drive by themselves, or rent a car because the driver may try to speed in order to come back to make another round.'

Foreign governments, meanwhile, are continuing their efforts to evacuate their citizens.

New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key said he was sending an Air Force Hercules transport plane to either Singapore or Malaysia 'as a contingency' plan in case stranded New Zealanders cannot find another way home.

Hundreds of Australians were yesterday heading home after being picked up by a specially chartered Qantas flight, the airline said.

Close to 300 Australians had taken a 14-hour bus trip to Phuket from Bangkok on Monday and left for Singapore early yesterday. They were now being found places on flights back to Australia, a Qantas spokesman said.

The Australian government on Saturday asked Qantas for assistance in evacuating hundreds of citizens from Bangkok after becoming frustrated with a lack of progress on the part of Thai authorities.

China too expressed concern yesterday over the situation in Thailand and said it was continuing to evacuate stranded Chinese citizens.

'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,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters.

In Japan, over 5,000 Japanese travellers have managed to return from Thailand, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

'By (Tuesday) morning, some 5,100 people had returned,' an official said, but added that thousands more Japanese nationals are believed to still be in Thailand.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE