Thai airports start to work again

For thousands of tourists, their Thailand nightmare is almost over. Bangkok’s international airport is slowly returning to normal, allowing some 300,000 stranded holidaymakers to begin the journey home. Many were stuck at Suvarnabhumi airport for eight days, until anti-government protestors lifted their blockade. Planes are now beginning to move – the first away was a Thai Airways flight to Sydney.

“This is a reprieve for us, a resting stop ahead of the King’s birthday celebrations on Thursday and Friday, December 4th and 5th,” said political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak. “But after that, on Monday, we will be back to the same cycle of confrontation and brinkmanship, because the dissolved party, the People’s Power Party, now has a new party, the Pua Thai Party, and it is deja vu.”

All over Bangkok the clean up has begun – including at Government House where protestors had been camped out for three months. But cleaning up Thailand’s image may take longer. And there was bad news in the stars: astrologers predict more bloody street battles or even a military coup by the weekend.

Copyright © 2009 euronews

tags: Thailand, Transport