Pressure Mounts On Thai Government To Resign Amid Rising Economic Losses

November 30, 2008 1:59 p.m. EST

Bangkok, Thailand (AHN) - Police in Thailand has issued warning against the protestors to disperse and leave the occupied airports to control the rising tension brewing between the pro-government and anti-government supporters.

The security forces have been instructed to restrict public gatherings and detain or impose penatly on any law-breaker, following explosions that wounded at least 51 people amid political standoff in the country.

The government has been dealing with the political crisis as the thousands of demonstrators seize the Suvarnabhumi airport, located on Bangkok's outskirts, on Tuesday night, and the Don Muang domestic airport in the city on Wednesday.

Thailand's economy is disrupted after thousands of anti-government demonstrators started demanding the government to resign as it has been acting as the previous administration's proxy.

"Thai exporters will lose lots of business opportunities as buyers will turn to other countries," Somkiat Anuraj, vice chairman of the Board of Trade, was quoted saying by Thailand's The Nation newspaper.

"Unfortunately, this is happening during the peak export period as lots of orders are received in November and December," he said.

Pramon Sutivong, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said that the business community in the country has asked the goernment to step down or dissolve the parliament to avoid rising tension and pro-longing the effect of demonstration.

The protesters have consistently pledged not to leave grounds until the government, led by Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, that was elected last December resigns.

The demonstrations are led by the opposition People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, an activist group that successfully overthrew former Prime Minister Shinawatra in 2006.

The crisis that has stranded up to 100,000 travelers and it is costing airport authorities as much as 50 million baht ($1.4 million) in income every day.

Tourism industry is an important source of sector for Thailand's economy, which have already suffered from the global slowdown, accounting for 6 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).