government protesters continued to cripple Bangkok Airport Wednesday, reducing air traffic to zero and forcing embattled Premier Somchai Wongsawat to slip into Thailand via the northern city of Chiang Mai. The premier, who rushed back from an APEC summit in Peru, said on arrival that he had not yet decided on whether to heed a call by the army chief, Gen. Anupong Paochinda, to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections. The premier then left in a van to an unknown location. An aide said he planned to chair a cabinet meeting on Thursday. “Since the government has legitimacy to deal with the problem but they can't, they should return it – power to the people,” Gen. Anupong said at the press conference Wednesday after meeting with military, police, business and academic leaders. He called on the government to “give the public a chance to decide in a fresh election.” The general also called on the protest group, the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), to disperse from the airport, but one of their leaders, Pibhop Dhongchai, said they were staying put until Somchai resigned. PAD, which accuses the Somchai government of being a front for ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, appears intent on forcing the military to intervene and bring down the elected regime. All flights were canceled Wednesday and frustrated passengers bused to hotels, as protesters shut down Suvarnabhumi Airport in a major escalation of their four-month campaign to oust Somchai. CNN reported that two explosions at Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Don Muang International Airport wounded four people.
