Hundreds of relieved Australian travellers stranded by political violence in Thailand, have touched down in Singapore on an emergency flight out of the country.
350 people turned up at Phuket Airport this morning hoping to get on board the Qantas airbus to Singapore, and escape political violence in Thailand.
The flight took off after an hour and a half delay, with all 297 seats filled.
Those on board arrived in Singapore just after 9:00 AEST, and will now begin boarding flights home.
Another emergency flight will leave at the same time tomorrow, with anti-government protestors continuing to block Bangkok’s two main airports.
6:30 AM
Hundreds of Australian tourists are trying to squeeze onto a flight from Thailand to escape the political turmoil that has gripped the country for the past week.
The emergency Qantas flight has been delayed because of the demand, once it takes off it will fly to Singapore, where passengers will join connecting flights home.
“When those five busloads of people were rocking up they were really tired, but relieved to be out of Bangkok – some of them had been tied up there for five days or more,” Channel Nine's Ali Langdon told Macquarie from Phuket airport.
“Their biggest gripe was that they didn’t know what was going on. No information was getting through to them.
“So when they jumped on that bus to drive to Phuket – even though it was a 12 to 13 hour drive – I think they were just relieved to know they were on their way to going home.”
Meantime, there's no sign of tensions in the capital easing.
Protestors that were occupying the premier's offices have now moved to both the airports to reinforce the blockade.
Early this morning a bomb blast injured six protestors.
The only progress has been the release of dozens of empty planes to ferry tourists from our Thai destinations back home.