Trapped county pair tell of airport ordeal

A Shropshire couple who have been stranded in Thailand for the past week have accused the British government of not doing enough to help tourists caught up in the chaos.

Suzy Burr and Michael Rutter, from Alveley, have been trapped in a hotel in Bangkok after anti-government protesters stormed the city's airports, stopping planes from flying holidaymakers home.

The couple were due to fly home last Tuesday, but had to hole up in a hotel after crowds of hundreds of Thais entered the airport demanding the Prime Minister be removed from office.

They are just two of about 300,000 people trapped in the country, which is undergoing major political upheaval.

Michael Rutter races in the British Superbike Championship and was due to attend a press day at the National Motorcycle Show at the NEC in Birmingham when the drama unfolded.

Miss Burr said people had received "very little, practically non-existent" help from the British Embassy and Government.

She also said people were watching news channels to find out what was happening.

"Within 10 minutes of eventually entering the airport hundreds of riot police with shields appeared and every shop was swarmed with airport staff frantically taking the expensive goods of the shelves," she said.

"The airline provided water but no information as to what was happening - we used the news channel again to keep in touch with any movements.

"Every day we have relied on news feeds online to keep us in touch with progress, due to the unfortunate situation in Mumbai taking over television news channels.

"We have watched ambassadors from every other country attend our hotel and we have read that every other country has provided emergency carriers to rescue their citizens - our embassy remained closed throughout.

"The website merely requests you register your presence through a number that either rings out or is engaged.

In a time of crisis and political unrest, we hear every day from the news that Thailand has been on the verge of civil war."

Protesters have now left the airports and some flights are now leaving Bangkok.

The couple hope to catch a flight to Heathrow airport later today, leaving from a military airbase.

By Jonathan Wood