Burmese Impacted by Thailand’s Crisis

Like other airlines and travelers who use Thai airports, Burma’s Myanmar Airways International (MAI) and Burmese who travel abroad have been impacted by Thailand’s ongoing political crisis.

An official at MAI, Burma’s only international airline, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that MAI has cancelled all flights between Rangoon and Bangkok.

“MAI has, like other airlines, stopped flying to Bangkok since November 26,” she said.

government demonstrators gather at Suvarnabhumi airport November 28, 2008, in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo: AP)

“But our flights to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore still continue as usual. When we resume the Bangkok flight depends on the situation at the Thai airport.”

She said most Burmese use the Bangkok International Airport as a transit point when they travel out of Burma. “But now the Bangkok International Airport has closed so many people are switching flights to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.”

MAI and several other international carriers including Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways and Air Asia run flights between the two cities.

All the airlines canceled their Bangkok flights when tens of thousands of anti-government protesters, led by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), took control of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, according to Rangoon’s Biweekly journal.

For the past three days, the Thai government has proven ineffective in taking back control the airport and appears comfortable to let the airport remain in the hands of protesters for now.

Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Surin Pitsuwan, who is Thai, failed to attend the Tripartite Meeting of Asean, the United Nations and the Burmese junta on November 26 in Rangoon for discussions on the Cyclone Nargis relief effort. Some observers said it was because of the political unrest in his homeland.

Anti-government protesters rest in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport November 28. (Photo:  Reuters)

The PAD has repeatedly vowed it will continue to hold Bangkok’s two main air hubs, Suvanabhumi and Don Mueang Domestic Airport, until Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat steps down. Somchai has refused to step down, and the government has imposed a state of emergency at the two airports.

Clashes between anti-government protesters who wear yellow colors and pro-government groups who wear red colors have occurred in Bangkok and the northern city Chiang Mai. The father of a PAD activist was killed by a pro-government group in Chiang Mai on Wednesday.

Burmese students and migrant workers in Thailand have issued warnings not to wear either yellow or red colors to avoid becoming drawn into the conflict between the two groups.

“On Thursday, I wore a red shirt when I took a taxi in Bangkok,” said a Burmese female student. “A taxi driver who seemed to be pro-PAD scared me with his expression.”

More than 2.5 million Burmese migrant workers live in Thailand and hundreds of Burmese students study at universities.

Inside Burma, people are also following events through satellite television and shortwave radios, according to sources in Rangoon.

“In Rangoon’s tea-shops, people talk about it, such as who are the PAD protesters, when the government might resign and is a military coup possible,” said a businessman who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We also compare the different mentalities between the Thai and Burmese armies. The Thai army is very careful of people’s lives. They don’t want a bloodbath to occur in their country.”

The state-run Burmese newspapers have run no stories about the ongoing political crisis in Thailand.

Meanwhile, Burmese exiles in Thailand are less vocal about the crisis and generally seek to maintain a neutral position. In the past, Thailand’s politicians have influenced many Burmese pro-democracy activists as a model for compromising in political disputes.

“If all parties in the Thai crisis can compromise and resolve the crisis peacefully, it will be great for all.