It's a riot policeman's nightmare - a peaceful protest where children play behind the barricades, writes Clifford Coonanat Bangkok airport
GRANDMOTHERS FEED rice to infants in front of the Thai Airlines executive lounge, while a young boy practises his football skills at the check-in counters, near a sign saying "Against Killer Government". The set-down area outside the departure area is a sea of yellow T-shirts and clapping hand toys.
The occupation of Bangkok's spanking new Suvarnabhumi International Airport may be the most daring political action in three years of political crisis in Thailand, but on the ground it feels like a festival.
Prime minister Somchai Wongsawat said on televsion that the government would use "gentle measures" against the protesters, but even two minutes at the new terminal shows the problem facing the authorities. How do you forcibly remove one of the biggest picnics Thailand has ever seen, when the picnickers have vowed to fight to the end?
To get to the airport we clamber in the back of a flat-bed truck, and pass Young People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) guards wearing balaclavas and carrying golf clubs, standing behind roadblocks of razor-wire and piled-up baggage carts. As they wave us through they smile those disarming Thai smiles and give us the thumbs up sign.
Demonstrators stormed Suvarnabhumi on Tuesday and took over the smaller Don Muang domestic airport one day later. The capital remains completely cut off from air traffic.
These guards will be the front line against any efforts to stop this occupation, which stranded thousands of travellers and dealt a severe blow to the economy and tourism industry.
As soon as we get past the razor wire, we are greeted with Thai pop blaring from speakers outside the terminal and see children dancing happily and old people eating boiled eggs distributed from the luggage carts not used as barricade material. The young men at the barricades are fair game, but this scene of family entertainment is a riot policeman's worst nightmare. Failure to deal with this nightmare cost police chief Pacharawat Wongsuwan his job yesterday.
"We would like to kick out the government because they are corrupt and Thaksin has done many corrupt things. This government is trying to stop Thaksin going to jail," said a woman wearing a yellow T-shirt with the words "We Love Our King" in Thai on the front, who gave her name as Apple.
She is particularly irate about the way the government supported Cambodia's bid to seek World Heritage status for the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple on the Thai-Cambodian border. The decision in July sparked a wave of nationalist anger because some Thais saw the move as a surrender of sovereignty.
Inside, flight information signs read "Cancelled" beside every destination, although the Tokyo flight is only delayed. The cash machines work and the toilets are spotless - the protesters are very particular about not causing any damage to the facilities.
"People in provinces other than Bangkok voted for him. Our constitutional court already said the PPP are guilty. This is not the right government for the Thai people, it does many corrupt things," said Thanawat Lertruengpanya, a 27-year-old graduate student.
"If the situation wasn't so bad, I wouldn't be here. Especially the new airport. They say we're terrorists, but look around - kids, old people, eating and dancing. We just want peaceful co-operation," he says.
The focus of the occupation is on former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, currently a fugitive from corruption charges.
Mr Somchai is merely Mr Thaksin's puppet and the tycoon-turned-politician from the northeastern city of Chiang Mai used his time in power to enrich himself and his cronies, says Detaman Yatmiyom (52), who comes from the Thaksin stronghold of Roiet and used to be a Thaksin supporter himself.
"Rural people are just as poor as before," he says.
Edi, from Chiang Mai, where the government is holed up, agrees, nodding furiously.
"Look at us, we're harmless. Young boys, old ladies, beautiful ladies," the retired import agent says, winking at a passing young woman. He takes out his ID card to show he is from Chiang Mai, and there is a round of applause from onlookers.
"We got rid of Thaksin but the seed of corruption he planted is there. Hitler got a majority vote - we don't want another Hitler and we will win. We have no other choice. We look to Gandhi, we're peaceful, no guns, no weapons. If they want to come and ambush us, go ahead," he says, picking up a hand-clapper toy and making furious clapping sounds.
"Ever seen a revolution like this? No way!"