Thousands of foreign tourists are stranded at Thailand's Phuket beach resort and a nearby tourist town, REUTERS quoted tourist officials as saying on Saturday, more than 24 hours after anti-government protesters forced their airports to close. Phuket and Krabi airports became targets of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) after thousands of its supporters clashed with riot police at Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's official compound in Bangkok on Friday. Hundreds of supporters of PAD, a motley group of businessmen, academics and activists seeking to oust Samak from office, invaded runways or blocked roads at the two airports and another at Hat Yai in the south. The latter reopened early on Saturday. "This really comes at a bad time as most European tour agents are starting to choose country packages for the year-end festive season," said Suparuak Surangkura, director of the Association of Thai Travel Agents. "We are concerned that media coverage of the protests may persuade tour agents to look at alternative destinations like Bali or Vietnam," he said.
