Tourists with 'urgent needs' will get priority to leave Thailand
Charmaine Pang
Thailand has declared a state of emergency, as thousands of anti-government protesters have camped out at Bangkok's two airports, halting all normal operations. The demonstrations have stranded about 4,000 travellers. It is not known when airport activity in the city will return to normal.

Weerasak Kohsurat, the tourism minister of Thailand, says authorities will begin flying thousands of stranded tourists out of one or two military bases in the next 48 hours. Only tourists with ``urgent needs'', which could include parents with young children and people with medical conditions, will be taken to U-Tapao air force base, 140 kilometres southeast of Bangkok and possibly an Air Force base at Kamphaeng Saen, a northern suburb of Bangkok.

Weerasak said that a Thai Airways carrier would provide the planes so that tourists could then take connecting flights in Singapore or Malaysia. The Thai government is also considering using buses and trains to transport tourists to other airports in the country that are still operational, including those in Phuket and Chiang Mai.

Along with the use of the military bases, Weerasak said the government is also considering using buses and trains to transport tourists to other airports in the country, including those in Phuket and Chiang Mai.