Bangkok: More than 450 Muslim pilgrims stranded at Bangkok’s besieged international airport for four days were bused yesterday to a military base where they boarded a plane for Haj.
Sen. Anusart Suwanmongkol said buses transported the pilgrims from Suvarnabhumi airport to the U-Tapao naval base, about 140 kilometers southeast of Bangkok.
The pilgrims arrived in Bangkok from Thailand’s southern provinces on Tuesday, hours before anti-government protesters took over Suvarnabhumi, forcing the country’s main gateway to shut down. There, they boarded an Iran Air flight arranged by the Iranian Embassy to Saudi Arabia.
A separate group of 250 Thai Muslims left on Friday from Hat Yai in southern Thailand without coming to Suvarnabhumi.
The Gulf Air special flight also air lifted stranded passengers.
Gulf Air’s senior management, lead by Chief Executive Officer Björn Näf, received the passengers at Bahrain International Airport on their arrival in Bahrain on Saturday. “We have deployed a team of committed workforce to handle the situation ever since the Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport was closed following the security situation there,” said Näf.
