The direct cost of the closure of Phuket International Airport by anti-government protesters may have reached 250 million baht per day, according to estimates from the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) and the southern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association. PTA President Somboon Jirayus announced the figure on 1 September, one day after flights had resumed at the airport, as local officials and tourism professionals took stock of the consequences from a local flare-up of anti-government protests centred in Bangkok.

In all, the closure of the airport between 4.50pm on 29 August and 11.00am on 31 August caused the cancellation of 181 flights, affecting 30,000 passengers. Also during the shutdown, 137 tonnes of cargo awaited transport. Of the cancelled passenger flights, 126 were departures to or arrivals from domestic destinations, while 55 were international. Airlines affected included Thai Airways, Dragon Air, Silk Air, Air Asia, Bangkok Air, Malaysia Airlines, Jet Star, Sky Star, China Air, Tiger Air and Nok Air.

“This will continue to affect Phuket for a while until tourists trust the safety and trust in the situation in our country again,” Khun Somboon said. “If the airport had closed longer than this, I am sure that Phuket would have lost a lot more income because charter flights from many countries are keep an eye on the situation. If the situation continues like this, tourists may change their plans and travel to other countries instead of to Phuket.”

Protesters from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which has mounted protests in Bangkok against the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej during recent months, announced an end to its occupation of the airport at 3.00pm on 31 August, abandoning a position at the airport’s entrance gate. The local group would focus its efforts on the main protest in Bangkok, leaders said, and they threatened another attempt to shutdown Phuket Interntional Airport if police break up the protest in the nation’s capital.

The first flight into the airport was Thai Airways flight TG213, with 380 Thai and foreign passengers, arriving at 3.35pm. The first flight out was the airline’s TG214 to Bangkok. As flights resumed, taxis and hotel transportation vehicles lined up at the airport’s entrance to pick up and drop off tourists as usual.

The protest began on 29 August at 1.30pm as 2,000 protesters invaded the airport, smashing windows in the terminal building to gain access to the runway and force a suspension of airport operations. Two hours later, the group moved outside the airport grounds to the entrance gate. They were joined by a second group of 7,000 protesters at 5.30pm and a third group of 2,000 from Phang Nga and Krabi at 8.00pm.

Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit and Vicha Nurnlop, general manager of the airport, attempted to negotiate with the protesters throughout the day on 29 and 30 August, without success. One hundred police formed a perimeter around the protestors while some of the 15,000 tourists waited at the airport for a resolution to the situation. Many found hospitality from airport businesses, which provided free food to stranded tourists.

“In securing this situation, we have to take care of tourists, and we’ve coordinated with protesters on a few details,” said Pol. Col. Chalit Thinthani during the airport shutdown. “We have to protect the airport as well. Moreover, we definitely don’t do anything violent and break up the mob because we don’t want to have a conflict. The problem is we don’t know who are the heads of the protest right now because they change all the time. We’re ready to talk when the heads of the protest become available.”

Narong Jaidee also contributed to this report.