KEY POINTS:
An Air Force rescue mission or a chartered Air New Zealand jet could be used to get New Zealanders out of Bangkok if unrest there becomes worse.
Prime Minister John Key yesterday said both ideas contingency plans to get the 200 New Zealanders out of the Thai capital.
Airlines were flying dozens of empty planes from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport yesterday as authorities struggled to clear it of protesters and move 100,000 stranded travellers.
Up to 80 planes would have been flown out by last night, some of them to protest-free airports elsewhere in Thailand so stranded travellers could leave, said Airports Authority of Thailand director Serirat Prasutanont.
On Sunday thousands of pro-government activists converged on Bangkok to counter rival protesters who seized the city's two airports last week and have forced the Prime Minister to run the country from outside the capital.
Explosions targeting the anti-government protesters injured at least 51 people, officials said.
Blasts hit the prime minister's compound in Bangkok, where the protesters have camped out since August, and a road near the occupied domestic airport.
Re-opening Suvarnabhumi airport would take at least a week from the end of the protest siege because of security and IT system checks, airport general manager Serirat Prasutanont said yesterday.
Some international flights are now leaving from U-Tapao, a Vietnam War-era military airfield about 140km southeast of Bangkok.
The other options for travellers trying to get flights out of the country are through Chiang Mai, 700km to the north, or Phuket, 900km to the south.
Some people are driving overland to Cambodia to get flights from Siem Reap or Phnom Penh.
Mr Key said the first option was getting people on a Thai Airways flight for Sydney that was leaving daily from the U-Tapao air base.
Should the violence escalate further, an Air Force or military flight was possible, and the Air New Zealand charter was also an option.
"I think it makes sense for us to be considering the contingency options that we might want to invoke if violence erupts and escalates in Bangkok," the Prime Minister said.
"Clearly we're monitoring the situation, and it's not improving - it is quite a standoff."
The Australian Government arranged transport to get some of its citizens from Bangkok to the tourist resort Phuket for an emergency Qantas flight which left to Singapore last night.
Qantas said yesterday it would run a second relief flight between Phuket and Singapore early today.
Mr Key said a similar Air New Zealand flight had "a cost element - but obviously if that was the only alternative we would pursue it".
The Government believed getting people out on the Thai Airways flight was the quicker option.
Twenty New Zealanders left on the Thai Airways flight on Sunday.
Mr Key said the Monday flight was not full when it left because of complications some travellers faced transferring tickets or airlines.
The New Zealand Embassy had set up base in a downtown Bangkok hotel to streamline the process for stranded Kiwis.
Mr Key said there were no plans to take Embassy staff out of Bangkok.
Not all the 200 stranded New Zealanders wanted to return home, as some were travelling to other parts of the world.
Embassy staff visiting hotels had also come across more than a dozen New Zealanders who were not registered with them, and Mr Key said everyone there should make contact "so we can do everything we can to assist them".
Mr Key is to attend the East Asia summit in Chiang Mai in the week starting December 15.
Thailand's foreign ministry planned to propose today the postponement of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, scheduled for mid-December in Thailand, ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdee said.
Neither the Thai army nor the country's king have stepped in to resolve the crisis - or offer the firm backing that Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat needs to resolve the leadership vacuum.
The People's Alliance for Democracy
says it will not give up its airport blockades until Somchai resigns, accusing him of being a puppet of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the alliance's original target.
Thaksin, who is Somchai's brother-in-law, was deposed in a 2006 military coup and has fled the country to escape corruption charges.
Alliance protesters managed to shut down Suvarnabhumi airport last Tuesday, stranding scores of planes.
Local newspapers said protesters allowed the airliners to leave the airport starting Sunday, but that the departing planes dimmed their lights to avoid notice attracting unwanted attention.
On Sunday, thousands of Government supporters wearing red shirts, headbands and bandanas joined a rally against the protest alliance. Some danced and clapped to music blaring from loudspeakers. They have adopted red to distinguish themselves from their yellow-garbed rivals.
"This is a movement against anarchical force and the people behind it," said Government spokesman Nattawut Sai-Kua.
The Federation of Thai Industries says the airports takeover is costing the country $57 million to $85 million a day. Some of its members have suggested withholding taxes in protest.
In India, where terror attacks struck the city of Mumbai, up to 200 Kiwis have been confirmed as still being in the country.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday there had been inquiries about around 200 New Zealanders who were in India.
"We received enquiries for 200 New Zealanders in India and so far, 198 have been confirmed to be safe and well.
"We're still making enquiries on the other two, but at this point, there are no concerns about their safety or reason to believe that they are in Mumbai."
- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: AP, AAP, agencies
