foreign ministry estimates that a few hundred Swedes are caught up in the
unrest, but the exact number remains unclear.
get out of there, either home to
foreign ministry spokesperson Gufran al-Nadaf to the TT news agency on Tuesday.
are blocked and there are demonstrators at the airport. All flights are
cancelled.”
Airways flight with 380 travelers from
on its way to
Tuesday night was however able to land at
old Don Muang airport.
spokesperson told the Reuters news agency the airport would remain closed
through Wednesday, and Scandinavian airline SAS said it was cancelling all
flights to
until security can be guaranteed.
of the passengers who were scheduled to take an SAS flight to
but were then forced to wait at the airport.
know what will happen with them because our staff was asked by authorities to
leave the airport,” said SAS spokesperson Anne Mette Philipsen to TT.
other passengers who had not yet checked in for their flights, ended up leaving
the airport to take refuge in a hotel in the city.
nine passengers flying with the Apollo charter company were also stuck at the
airport, while an additional six never checked in and could be taken back to
their hotel.
personnel have called all of our Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish passengers who
are there. None of them are especially worried for their own safety,” said
Apollo spokesperson Kajsa Moström.
describe the situation as chaotic but they aren’t afraid.”
passengers were scheduled to fly with Thai Airways, but as of Tuesday evening
they had no further information about when they may be able to leave the
airport.
company Ving had about fifteen of its own travelers on their way to
Airways flight.
information we have is that all departures have been cancelled, but that
certain planes have been allowed to land. Otherwise, they are being redirected
to other airports,” said Ving spokesperson Magdalena Öhrn.
in the Thai capital is part of a campaign by the opposition People’s
(PAD) to oust the current government.
occupied government offices since August and accuses the government of being a
corrupt puppet regime of the deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is
currently seeking asylum in the
protesters had hoped that by taking over the airport they could intercept the
plane of current Thai prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, which was scheduled to
return from
on Tuesday.
protests also coincide with the start of high season for Swedish tourism to
year, around 360,000 Swedes visited the country according to the Fritidsresor
charter company.
Swedish travel companies continue to monitor the situation in
travelers choose to bypass the capital and instead travel directly to popular
destinations like Phuket or Krabi.
about 6,000 Swedes in
now. Eighty of them are in
they arrived on Tuesday morning,” said Fritidsresor spokesperson Marie Malmros.
