Aussies Leave Thailand Amid Coup Crisis

AUSTRALIANS bound for Thailand have been stranded in Singapore after their flight was diverted mid-flight on news of a coup in the southeast Asian nation.

The Emirates flight left Sydney early yesterday evening, and was due to land in Bangkok at 1am Bangkok time.

Sydney man Stewart Wallace, a plumber from Ashfield, said he landed in Bangkok about 10pm last night and was waiting for his wife who was due to arrive on the later Emirates flight from Sydney.

“The first thing I knew about any coup was when i walked into the hotel lobby and a local man asked me if I'd heard the news,” he said in Bangkok.

“I couldn't believe him and joked that it wasn't on my tourist schedule.

“Within half an hour, I received a text message from my wife Joann to say that her plane had unexpectedly landed in Singapore.”

He said the crew did not tell passengers the reason for the change of destination.

“The first thing she (Joann) knew about any coup was when I told her,” Mr Wallace said.

“We have decided just to cancel our holiday.

“It's not worth the risk since no-one really knows what's going on.

“My wife has friends in the travel business in Singapore, so I am flying off there this morning to join her and will make other plans for our vacation.”

Bangkok airport this morning looked no busier than normal, with few signs of any military presence.

Rowley Winten, an Australian businessman based in Singapore, was in Bangkok en route to China when news of the coup broke on Thai television.

“I was in my hotel room watching news of the coup when my office in Sydney called me to ask if I was all right,” he said.

“I was able to assure them that all is well.”

Mr Winten, who had been on a business trip, said he had booked a flight back to Sydney later today.

Thailand's military last night overthrew Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup, amid mounting criticism that the popularly elected leader has plundered the economy and subverted democracy.

Coup leaders have declared martial law, ordering the stock exchange, schools, banks and government offices to remain closed and declaring a provisional authority loyal to Thailand's king.

They also revoked the Constitution and ordered all troops not to leave duty stations without permission from their commanders.

The coup was carried out when Mr Thaksin was in New York at the UN General Assembly.

An Australian family of four from Hobart did not know about the coup until reporters told them about it at Bangkok airport today.

Roger O'Meagher and his wife Andrea, with their sons Gus, 9, and Ned, 7, had enjoyed Thailand two weeks touring and Laos.

“We were out for dinner last night and went back to the hotel around 10 o'clock. But come to think of it we saw a sign up about a curfew in the foyer, but we thought nothing of it and nobody on the hotel staff told us we should stay off the streets,” Mr O'Meagher said.

His wife said: “We've had a wonderful holiday here but I think the kids might feel they've missed out on an adventure.”

Another couple from Auckland in New Zealand Larry Bartlett and his Thai wife Kutchakorn, who are returning home today, said they were ordered out of a restaurant last night.

“We were in a restaurant having a final dinner before flying home this morning, when the police ordered the owners to shut up shop,” Mr Bartlett said.

“They (the owners) were quite happy for us to carry on drinking with other guests, but the police would have none of it and we were told to leave about 11 o'clock.

“This is Thailand and you expect stange things to happen sometimes.”

Source: www.news.com.au