Last of stranded Thai Muslims leave Bangkok airport

By Darren Schuettler

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Muslims on a once-in-a-lifetime haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia prepared to leave Bangkok's besieged international airport on Sunday, six days after they were stranded by anti-government protests.

The final group of 460 pilgrims, who had slept on straw floor mats and luggage conveyor belts in a corner of Suvarnabhumi airport's massive departure hall, were relieved that their ordeal was nearly over.

"We are leaving today, finally, inshallah (God willing)," said Yusuf Waedaramae, 33, a Thai living in Australia, who was escorting his 57-year-old mother to complete one of Islam's most important pillars of faith.

Members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) stormed the new $4 billion (2.6 billion pound) state-of-the-art airport on Tuesday, stepping up their fight to unseat the government.

Suvarnabhumi and another older airport, Don Muang, have been shut, leaving thousands of tourists stranded and threatening further pain for an economy already hit by a global slump.

The group, many of its members elderly and frail, were from Thailand's deep south, home to most of the Buddhist country's six million Muslims. The region has endured a five-year separatist insurgency that has also hurt tourism and the economy.

On Sunday the pilgrims received word they would be driven by bus to the naval air base at U-Tapao, 150 kms (90 miles) east of Bangkok, where airlines are picking up stranded travellers.

Their IranAir charter flight was due to leave after 3 a.m. on Monday, bound for Tehran and then Saudi Arabia, an airline representative said.