Hundreds of Pinoys 'in the crossfire' of Thailand unrest
BANGKOK, THAILAND - Hundreds of Filipino tourists, children included and returning Thailand-based Pinoy workers are among the thousands now holed up in the Suvarnabhumi International Airport here.
This, as some 2,500 anti-government protesters easily gained entrance here Tuesday evening and refused to leave the premises as of press time.
Considered as the highest form of protest and civil disobedience, the protesters all wearing yellow shirt barged their way in armed with batons. Those leading the group had their faces covered while others bravely yelled "Fight... Fight... Fight" to a crowd of surprised and shocked travelers.
The News Today (TNT) was told that Guimaras Governor Felipe Nava is among those stranded while this writer's flight slated early morning today was canceled as well.
Language barrier poses major difficulty for tourists as local Thais manning the airport and "Phone hotlines" provided by the Thai government failed to provide clear answers.
"No travel today... tomorrow and next tomorrow," a woman worker tells foreigners asking for updates.
Bangkok Post, one of the major English news daily here run an extensive account of the airport blockade confirming thousands of stranded passengers in both outbound and incoming flights.
To note, bulk of the airport traffic here is during night time including flights originating from the Philippines.
The Thai army's help has been sought by the Governor however to date, no Army response in the international airport was seen.
Late Tuesday evening until yesterday though, cited in major streets of Bangkok particularly those in the vicinity of government offices and even media outlets were manned by soldiers in full battle gears.
Thailand is home to at least 18,000 Filipino teachers and thousands more in domestic help, engineers and factory workers.
No imminent danger is seen in areas outside the protest centers and the international airports however concern run high on the possible attack elsewhere.
Thai police higher-ups also announced that checkpoints to and from Bangkok will be conducted in the next 24 hours.
Interestingly enough though, life goes on for most of the middle-class and elite of Thailand including families of expats - foreigners - based here.