Aussies return after fleeing Thailand

3 Dec 2008, 6:50 pm   -   Source: AAP
Share This

Hundreds of weary Australians have finally returned home after fleeing protests that crippled Thailand's main airports and sparked the ouster of the government.

Hundreds of weary Australians have finally returned home after fleeing protests that crippled Thailand's main airports and sparked the ouster of the government.

Australians shared stories of days trapped in limbo and being caught up in dangerous situations as thousands of protesters staged an eight-day siege at two main airports, trapping 300,000 travellers.

Luke Alexander and Gemmah Carr, who finally made it home to Brisbane on Wednesday, have told of their fear when car bombs began exploding near their Bangkok hotel.

They spent five days holed up in their hotel, and were eventually shepherded to safety by Australian embassy officials.

"A few car bombs starting going off right near our hotel, so that's when it started to get a bit scary," Ms Carr said.

"We had five minutes to decide if we wanted to go (when Australian officials called) and were told if we missed this opportunity they wouldn't give us another opportunity to get out," Mr Alexander added.

The couple endured a 12-hour bus ride from Bangkok to the holiday island of Phuket before flying to Singapore and Sydney, finally landing on home soil in Brisbane where they were greeted by family members including their 15-month-old daughter Isabella.

They were among hundreds of weary Australians to return home on Wednesday, as protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy abandoned their airports siege.

The protesters handed control of two main airports back to authorities after a court ruling ousted Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and disbanded the ruling party for electoral fraud.

Many other Australians told of cramped 12-hour bus journeys from Bangkok to Phuket so they could catch outbound flights.

Jannene Harker, of Rockhampton in Queensland, said she had been stuck in Thailand for six days before boarding an overnight Jetstar flight to Melbourne.

Ms Harker said she had originally flown into Thailand from the Indian capital New Delhi and was expecting to be in transit for only a few hours.

"I was meant to be in transit at the international airport for five hours but in the end stayed there for six days," she said.

Irish tourist Samantha Lee Doyle, who was en route to work in Australia, said she'd made a 30-hour journey from Bangkok to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to get out.

"It's horrible, there are no options, the buses were really loaded up. There were only mini-buses and they were all packed full of people," she said after arriving in Melbourne.

Thai authorities have said flights should resume from Bangkok's main Suvarnabhumi airport within the next day or so.

Meanwhile, Jetstar is running flights out of Phuket.

Despite the political unrest, Jetstar said some Australians still seemed willing to go to Thailand.

"Obviously thousands and thousands of people have been disrupted but we had a half-full plane going across. People are still wanting to visit - Thailand is still open for business," Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube