As I have been writing about, Bangkok’s domestic and international airports are currently being occupied by ant-government protesters and all flights into and out of the airport have been cancelled and the airport evacuated.
People with flights booked when the airport closed, have been put up in hotels free of charge by the airlines. Visitors who have now overstayed their visa because of the cancellations will not have to pay the usual fine (1000 baht a day).
Even if the protest finishes this weekend it could take some time to get the airport up and running again. If there is damage done to the airport as the police and army attempt to break up the protests, it could even be longer.
For people who cannot wait until the protest finishes, they could take buses overland to Cambodia, Malaysia or Singapore and fly out from there. It seems like some people are already doing this as airlines in neighboring countries are already increasing their airfares with the new demand.
The next deadline for negotiations is 12 p.m. tomorrow, although it seems unlikely right now that leaders are prepared to call off the protest. The problem for the police and army is that there are children and women in the protest, so they can’t just go in with tear gas and weapons.
