A first group of Italian tourists stranded in Thailand will be able to leave the Southeast Asian country Monday evening thanks to an airlift organised by the Italian government, according to Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
Speaking to the press after a meeting of the ministry's crisis unit, Frattini said that an Alitalia pane had been chartered to go to the Thai airport of Utaphao, some 150km southeast of Bangkok, to pick up the tourists who have been stranded in Thailand since antigovernment protestors occupied the country's two main airports last week.
The tourists will also be able to leave the country aboard a Thai Airways flight and one operated by Arab Emirates carrier Etihad, also from the Utaphao airport.
Frattini said that within four days a total of four or five aircraft will be available for the estimated 1,100 Italians stuck in Thailand to return home.
The foreign minister added that the Italian tourists were in no danger and that he had received assurances from the Thai military that no actions would be taken which might place the tourists at risk.
He added that anyone who had been planning to visit Thailand should postpone their trip for the time being.
The occupation of the airport by members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), who want to topple Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, came a day after protestors and police clashed violently in the capital, with a reported 11 people taken to hospital.
On Wednesday the Thai military called on the prime minister to dissolve parliament and call new elections and told protestors to evacuate the airport.
However, Prime Minister Wongsawat has so far refused to bow down and has told the military to remain in their barracks.
Although the military has deployed tanks around the capital for ''strategic reasons,'' they deny that any coup is under way.
The PAD opposes Prime Minister Wongsawat because they believe he is a stand-in for his brother-in-law Thaksin Shinawatra, who was removed from power by the military in 2006 because of alleged corruption.
