Puppets' play soothes stressed out travellers

The ministry also handed out keyholders, each with a miniature khon head and a sign apologising to visitors from all Thai people's hearts for the inconvenience and hoping they would visit Thailand again.

The Joe Louis troop, along with College of Dramatic Arts students, presented Thai traditional performances, entertaining tourists waiting for their flights at the airport. Culture Ministry policy analysis official Boonchuan Buasawang said the performances brought smiles to tourists' faces and expressed hope visitors would understand the problems resulted from certain groups' conflicts, and did not represent Thais from the whole country.

The Joe Louis troop leader Charoen Sangsuan said his group of 12 puppeteers - with seven Thai traditional puppets and one comedian puppet - would perform two one-hour sessions per day ( 12.00 and 14.00). English leaflets were distributed to explain the Ramayana Epic's three chapters to viewers and the art of traditional Thai small puppets.

The Joe Louis troop has won awards from the World Festival of Puppet Art held in Czech Republic for two consecutive years.

A Swedish visitor, Anna Bjorkron, whose flight to Denmark on November 29 was cancelled, said she and her family were waiting for a flight at 10pm yesterday; she understood what had happened in Thailand and would visit the country again.

She commented that the puppet show was entertaining and helped children to feel relaxed before boarding the plane.

Australian tourist Bernadette Manamara said she had visited Thailand many times before and understood the situation and its conflicts. She said she liked Thailand and would visit again although her scheduled flight on Saturday was cancelled and she could not get a plane back home until last night.

Royal Thai Naval Air Division chief, Rear Admiral Sopon Boonchom, said U-tapao was now supporting 4,000-5,000 passengers per day, beyond its capacity of 800 per day. There was inconvenience and delays but people managed to get on flights, with none left behind. He said airport officials worked around the clock and were stressed, so relaxation such as massages or shows like the puppets were welcome.