BANGKOK, THAILAND — Thailand's beleaguered Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat on Thursday declared a state of emergency around two Bangkok airports occupied by protesters but insisted he wanted a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
"I do not have any intention to hurt any members of the public," he said in announcing the targeted restrictions on civil liberties aimed at reopening the country's main international airport.
By declaring the state of emergency, the government can suspend civil liberties, ban public gatherings and take other measures to restore order without imposing broader restrictions that many Thais have feared.
Thousands of People's Alliance for Democracy demonstrators on Tuesday seized the newly built Suvarnabhumi Airport, one of the busiest airports in Asia, marooning thousands of foreign travelers.
Earlier Thursday, anti-government protesters also took control of the capital's Don Muang airport. As rumors of an impending coup spread, Somchai called an emergency Cabinet meeting.
In a nationally televised address Wednesday night, Somchai had rejected army chief Gen. Anupong Paochinda's call for the prime minister to dissolve parliament and hold new elections.
Public Health Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung told reporters after the Cabinet session that police would soon be assigned to clear out the thousands of protesters entrenched at the airports.
By shutting down the main gateway for visitors to Thailand, the protesters have damaged the tourism industry, the country's largest earner of foreign currency, just as passengers were arriving at the start of the peak holiday season.
The anti-government activists, some of whom were armed with golf clubs, sticks and metal rods when they stormed Suvarnabhumi's busy departure terminal, were bracing for potential clashes if police were ordered to evict them.
At Government House, where hundreds of demonstrators have camped out on the lawn since August, protest leaders reportedly warned their followers "this may be our last night."
Demonstrators there, and at the airports, were also told to remove their yellow T-shirts, a symbol of support for the People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, and put on others if they decided to leave the areas.
No time frame has been announced for the resumption of flights. At least one Thai Airways flight, from Los Angeles, reportedly landed at an air force base outside Bangkok on Wednesday.
