Brits still stranded in Thai chaos

5:22pm Tuesday 2nd December 2008

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The crisis in Thailand appears to be nearing an end but thousands of stranded British travellers are still struggling to leave the strife-torn country.

First, a court banned the Thai ruling party and then officials said the country's shut-down main airport in Bangkok would reopen from the start of Friday.

Some Britons were escaping from the strife-torn country on relief flights which were taking them to London via Hong Kong, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.

But many faced a battle to get away, with the UK not actually laying on any extra flights but merely liaising with foreign airlines to get as many Britons away as possible.

Anti-government protesters have sparked the travel chaos in Thailand by occupying and forcing the closure of the main Bangkok international airport.

It was not immediately clear what would be the effect of the ruling by Thailand's Constitutional Court that the main ruling party be dissolved and the prime minister and 36 party executives be banned from politics for five years.

Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell said major airlines including Qantas and Emirates were laying on extra flights with UK Government support to help people stranded in Thailand get home.

An Emirates flight leaving Chiang Mai airport on Monday night was expected to carry well over 100 British nationals.

In a statement released by the Foreign Office, Mr Rammell said: "We are continuing to work with our international partners to support efforts to defuse the unrest in Thailand. Several thousand British travellers remain stranded in Bangkok. Our priorities are to ensure their immediate welfare and to find ways of ending their uncertainty and helping them get home."

Gulf Air, Malaysian Airways, Thai Airways, Cathay Pacific and Silk Airways are also expected to provide additional flights, mainly out of Phuket.