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1 days and 7 hours ago
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src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/11568?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Thai+anti-government+protesters+defy+police+warning+to+leave+airportsch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Thailand+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Ian+MacKinnonc7=2008_12_01c8=1126671c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Thailandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FThailand"
width="1" height="1" //divpPolice in Thailand ordered protesters to leave Bangkok's two airports
yesterday to allow more than 160,000 stranded travellers to fly home./ppBut the authorities showed
little sign that they were about to move in forcefully to take control of the airports, which have
been closed for six days amid mounting frustration of foreign governments concerned about their
nationals./ppThe rising alarm came as more than 10,000 of the beleaguered government's supporters
gathered for a mass rally in Bangkok, leading to fears of clashes with their rivals holding the
airports and the prime minister's Government House headquarters. Fifty-one anti-government
protesters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) were wounded - four of them seriously -
when a grenade blew up in the early hours of yesterday at Government House. /ppSome foreign
governments sent emergency planes to rescue their citizens, while airlines put on 60 flights to
pick up stranded passengers from a tiny Vietnam War-era airbase 90 miles south-east of Bangkok.
Australia's foreign minister, Stephen Smith, expressed dismay over Thailand's inability to evacuate
his country-folk caught in the chaos. "It's very frustrating for us and ... for those stranded
Australians. Some are becoming increasingly distressed," he said./ppThe deepening crisis has left
the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, powerless and isolated, governing from the northern city of
Chiang Mai for fear of a coup. It has also left Thai businesses, and the tourist industry in
particular, reeling./ppEven efforts by the Thai airports authority to negotiate with the protesters
occupying Suvarnabhumi - Thailand's main international airport - to allow 88 trapped international
aircraft to fly out empty were rebuffed./ppThe PAD demonstrators, who are demanding the prime
minister step down, invaded the airport last Tuesday in their most audacious act in months of
protests, which was followed a day later by the seizure of the domestic hub at Don Muang, in effect
cutting off the Thai capital./ppPolice attempts to take back control of Suvarnabhumi, which handles
700 flights and 125,000 passengers every day, appeared half-hearted, even after the sacking of the
national police chief./ppOn Saturday, 150 riot police manning a checkpoint near the airport fled
when they were outnumbered by protesters in yellow shirts, showing their allegiance to King
Bhumibol Adulyadej, who let down police van tyres. But yesterday the police issued an ultimatum to
the protesters in a statement banning gatherings of more than five people and warning that
offenders would be imprisoned or fined if they did not disperse./ppThe national deputy police
chief, Lt Gen Pongpat Pongjaroen, also said officers were in discussions with the PAD to end the
stalemate, though one of the protesters' leaders, Chamlong Srimuang, a former major-general, denied
any talks./pp"There is no negotiation on the table," a defiant Chamlong told thousands of PAD
supporters camped among Suvarnabhumi's silent check-in desks. "Please be patient. As soon as the
government is out of power, we will go home immediately."/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right:
10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia
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Recommandations
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and reject those that you are not interested in
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