2nd Thai airport is closed as political protests grow

Thai authorities reportedly shut down a second Bangkok airport early today after it was overtaken by antigovernment protesters.

The Don Muang domestic airport, which had been accepting some flights diverted from the previously overrun Suvarnabhumi Airport, a busy regional hub, was closed because officials feared that protesters who stormed the terminal building late Wednesday might harm passengers and aircraft.

Authorities may use an air force base 90 miles southeast of Bangkok, said Serirat Prasutanont, chief of the Thailand Airport Authority. And airports nationwide will be alerted to be ready to receive more diverted flights, he said.

Thailand’s prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, earlier Wednesday rejected demands from the army chief and demonstrators occupying the country’s main airport that he call new elections to resolve Thailand’s political crisis.

“I reassure the people that this government, which is legitimate and came from elections, will keep functioning until the end,” Somchai said in a nationally televised speech.

The prime minister spoke after landing in northern Thailand on a flight from Peru, where he was attending a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

An emergency meeting of Somchai’s Cabinet is scheduled today to address the escalating violence, a spokesman said.

While Somchai was out of the country, thousands of protesters broke through police lines Tuesday night and seized Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Some of the People’s Alliance for Democracy demonstrators were armed with golf clubs, metal rods and sticks, while others handed out food to angry tourists, many of whom spent the night trying to sleep on the floor.

“This is a farce,” said Tony Beck, 39, of Liverpool, England. “I can’t say this is going to do much for Thai tourism.”

After forcing authorities to close the country’s busiest airport late Tuesday, the protesters occupied the abandoned control tower.

Hours before the prime minister spoke to the nation, army chief Gen. Anupong Paochinda told reporters that Somchai should dissolve the parliament and hold new elections. The general’s position apparently strengthened the resolve of protesters, whose leaders repeated that they would not leave the airport until Somchai resigns.

Insisting that his call for elections did not amount to a coup, the army chief also said protesters should leave the airport. The demonstration has stranded about 3,000 travelers.

“The government still has full authority,” the general said at a news conference after meeting with military and police officials, along with academics and business leaders. “If a coup could end all the troubles, I would do it.”

By seizing the 2-year-old Suvarnabhumi Airport, which handles about 40 million passengers a year, the demonstrators have put a virtual stranglehold on the country’s crucial tourism industry.

The siege is causing so much damage to Thailand’s economy that it must be resolved “within days, not weeks,” Suchit Bunbongkarn, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, said from Bangkok.

The alliance, which draws its main support from the cities, says Somchai is a corrupt puppet of his brother-in-law, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted as prime minister in a bloodless coup in 2006.

The National Assembly voted Somchai into office in September after the Constitutional Court ruled that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej had to resign because he had violated conflict-of-interest laws by appearing as a guest host on two TV cooking shows while in office.

Tourism is Thailand’s top source of foreign exchange, earning the country $16 billion a year. Its biggest airline, Thai Airways, said Tuesday that it expected to lose $14 million a day because of flight cancellations.

After months of political turmoil, the current global economic crisis threatens to deal another blow to Thailand’s hotel and resorts, just as they are gearing up for the peak season. The airport seizure is expected to make a bad situation worse.

Late Wednesday, at the Novotel Hotel across the highway from Thailand’s besieged airport, a group of stranded Americans gathered at the bar, many of them telling of how they expected to miss Thanksgiving at home.

Linda Edwards of Richmond, Va., said she had been scheduled to return to Richmond at 10:45 p.m. today.

“What this story is really about to me is a grandmother not getting home to see her grandchildren,” Edwards said.

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paul.watson@latimes.com

McDermid is a special correspondent. The Associated Press contributed to this report.