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Reprieve for stranded Indians in Thailand

SINGAPORE: The ordeal of several hundred Indian nationals, stranded in Bangkok since the seizure of the airports there by anti-government protesters earlier in the week, is beginning to ease.

Since Friday, Indian carriers have been able to operate flights in either direction from U-Tapao near Pattaya, about 150 km from Bangkok, according to officials.

Air India was among the first international carriers to gain access to the airport at U-Tapao, originally built for military purposes.

However, the facilitation by local authorities was not without break, and a regularity of flights has been possible only in the last two days.

Meanwhile, the stand-off between the protesters and Thailand’s police, mandated to restore order at Bangkok’s two airports under a decree of localised emergency, continued. Until nightfall on Saturday, there was no move by the security forces to evict the protesters.

The embattled Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, has been camping in Chiang Mai, his party’s political stronghold, since his return from Peru, where he had gone to attend the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

His prolonged absence from the capital, Bangkok, has further polarised the political camps.

Amid these developments, though, a “story” doing the rounds in East Asian circles is that Thailand has asked India to clarify its Navy’s recent action of destroying a “pirate mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden area.

The vessel is suspected to have been a “pirate-hijacked ship” with Thai nationals aboard.

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Reprieve for stranded Indians in Thailand

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