Provincial airports join relief effort

The Transport Ministry is turning to airports in Nakhon Ratchasima and Phitsanulok, as more airlines have resumed flights to carry stranded tourists and travellers back home.

Deputy permanent secretary Chaisak Angkasuwan said yesterday that the two provincial airports could help take the load off Utapao Airport, which is running at full capacity, as no airline is allowed to operate at Suvarnabhumi. Of the 35 airports nationwide, all are capable of handling special flights, he said.

Yesterday, Hua Hin Airport, one of over 30 provincial airports under the Civil Aviation Department, started to serve international flights.

The international airports of Chiang Mai, Phuket, Samui and Krabi were crowded with tourists queuing for return tickets home.

Many airlines offered complimentary bus services from Bangkok to Utapao. However, airlines were strongly advising their passengers not to travel to Utapao directly, as it has very limited checkin facilities and is already overcrowded.

To help travellers head home, Thai Airways International laid on 32 special flights for those with confirmed reservations.

The Bangkok International Exhibition and Trade Centre opened temporary checkin counters at 6am.

Passengers were required to check in seven hours before departure. They were also advised to contact their airlines about checking in at the city terminal. Services are available around the clock, but restricted to foreigners who want to fly home.

Bangkok Airways is adding flights from Hua Hin to Singapore and Hong Kong. The airline also opened checkin points at Bitec and its head office for passengers travelling from Utapao and Hua Hin airports.

Thousands of Thai tourists stranded overseas have been advised to contact the nearest Thai embassy for assistance, while outbound agents are struggling to find ways to reroute customers home.

Charoen Wangananont, president of the Thai Travel Agents Association, said hundreds of Thai tourists were stranded in Hong Kong, Beijing, Japan, France, New Zealand and Australia.

He asked members to keep receipts, so the association can lobby the government to refund legitimate expenses that were incurred because of the crisis.

Airlines could fly them to Utapao. Flights from Hong Kong to Chiang Mai can be used by groups in Hong Kong or Macau, or they can go to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. From there they can transfer to Bangkok by car or train, via Hat Yai. Groups in Vietnam, mainly in Ho Chi Minh City, are flying to Vientiane in Laos, then going overland to Bangkok via Nong Khai.

Steve Sidwell, a visiting British conductor and composer, was one foreigner who got caught in Bangkok airports.

He had come to Bangkok again to perform the Golden Fantasy Concert, organised by Nescafe and the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, at the Thailand Cultural Centre tomorrow. He would never have expected that it would turn out to be a noshow.

Sidwell was supposed to be joined by Simon Greiff and Rachel Barrell, both vocalists.

Because of the airport shutdown, he changed his ticket from LondonBangkok to LondonKuala Lumpur. He arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday and had to fly Malaysian Airlines to Phuket. The next day he succeeded in securing a seat from Phuket to Utapao.

Witaya Tumornsuntorn, manager of the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, dispatched a car to pick up Sidwell at Utapao. Sidwell had to sit in the aircraft for several hours because there were not enough mobile stairways to let the passengers climb down to the tarmac.

But Greiff and Barrell could not make it. Finally, the Golden Fantasy Concert had to be cancelled.

Sidwell has to be back in London by Thursday. Yesterday he went to Thai Airways' Silom Office to book a flight back to London. He was put on a waiting list at No 850. Today he will try his luck again on getting a ticket.

Jeerawat Na Thalang, a Thai woman, found herself trapped in Rangoon.

When the government opened Utapao on Friday, THAI sent a special flight to pick up stranded passengers, but she missed it. She managed to catch the flight early Sunday morning but had to check in at the airport early in the afternoon of Saturday. By 2pm, THAI staff assured her that there would be a flight to Utapao that evening, but the time was not confirmed.

Then, THAI started to open the checkin counter, with hundreds of passengers already in line. Those with connecting flights were not advised to take the flight to Bangkok because THAI could not guarantee the availability of connecting flights to serve them.

At 7.30pm the counter closed, leaving some passengers behind because of the limited seating capacity. But even with a boarding pass, no one could say exactly what time the plane would come to pick passengers up. Eventually, the aircraft arrived and left Rangoon at 1.30am bound for Utapao.