KEY POINTS:
Thai tourists stuck in New Zealand because of the crisis in Bangkok are turning to the local temple for help with prayers and accommodation.
A group of 60 who could not go home because their flights had been cancelled went to the Thai temple in Kelston to pray for an end to the unrest back home.
"Many of us feel very helpless. The situation in Bangkok is not good, and there is nothing much we can do to help except pray," said Auckland-based monk Pramaha Chaovna Ngamsangguanprapa.
Maliwan Ratana, whose 14-day holiday to New Zealand should have ended last Wednesday, is asking the temple to help to provide her with accommodation until she gets a flight out.
"I have no more money. If I cannot stay at the temple, I don't know what I will do," she said. "I really just want to go home."
Others are in the same plight.
Miss Maliwan said many Thais were hoping for the crisis to come to an end on Thai King's birthday on Friday when King Bhumibol Adulyadej is due to make his national address.
"He is the only one left that all the Thai people, including the protesters, still respect very much."
Meanwhile, about 100,000 tourists - including many New Zealanders - remain stuck in Thailand after anti-Government protesters caused the airports to close, grounding all commercial flights in and out of the city.
Thai Deputy Premier Olarn Chaiprawat said on Saturday that the repatriation of foreign passengers could take up to a month.
Around 30,000 passengers a day are missing flights because of the closures and he said up to a million jobs could be lost if the number of visitors falls by half next year from 13.5 million arrivals this year.
Yesterday, an explosion outside one of the occupied airports, Don Muang, injured two passersby, Thai police said.
Don Muang was where Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat had moved his Cabinet offices to after the seizure of Government House three months ago.
The protests are led by the People's Alliance for Democracy, which is accusing Mr Somchai's Government of being a corrupt puppet for exiled former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006.
Thaksin is the Prime Minister's brother-in-law.
Earlier yesterday morning, a grenade attack on protesters occupying the Thai Premier's office wounded at least 49 people, further raising tensions between the the demonstrators and police.
The explosion came hours after royalist anti-Government demonstrators forced police to abandon a checkpoint at the main Suvarnabhumi airport on the fifth day of the seige.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has issued a travel advisory warning about Bangkok on its website, saying New Zealanders in areas affected by demonstrations or violence should find a safe location, remain indoors and heed local advice.
Frustrated tourists meanwhile struggled to escape Thailand through a Vietnam War-era naval base, U-tapao, as airport authorities announced Suvarnabhumi would remain closed for at least another day.
Thai Airways has begun to arrange flights there, and some airlines have sent planes to pick up their passengers there.
But the tiny airport has been overwhelmed by the influx.
U-tapao airport's carpark has room for just 100 vehicles and its terminal can take only 400 people at once.
Others have taken buses kilometres to airports on the southern island of Phuket or the northern city of Chiang Mai or overland all the way to neighbouring Cambodia and Malaysia.
