A special military flight is being arranged to bring back stranded Malaysians from Bangkok just as national carrier Malaysia Airlines is making plans to operate from another airport 190km away.

According to a Bernama report, the Malaysian embassy in Bangkok was in the midst of arranging a special military flight to carry stranded Malaysians in Bangkok following the closure of the Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports by anti-government protesters since Monday.

"For the special military flight, all Malaysians in need are advised to call the embassy's hotline number for the latest information and coordination. We will inform soon on the departure of the military aircraft," said an embassy official.

The embassy has opened a 24-hour operations room. Numbers to contact are (+66) 2629 6808 or (+66) 2629 6800 ext. 4106.

At the same time, MAS, which has cancelled all flights to and from Bangkok since Wednesday, has activated a contingency plan to cater for its passengers stranded in the Thai capital.

The carrier said today that it would operate from U-Tapao international airport in the province of Rayong, about two-hour drive from Bangkok and around 20km from the resort city of Pattaya.

"We are activating this contingency plan to mainly provide an alternative for our passengers in Bangkok who are keen to return to their final destinations," said MAS' director of operations Tajuden Abu Bakar in a statement today.

"This alternative is in addition to our twice daily flights from Phuket which is also open on seat-available basis to our ticket holding passengers who wish to travel out of Thailand," he added.

Meanwhile, budget carrier AirAsia is also flying out its stranded passengers also from U-Tapao airport this evening. The airline said that it will organise more flights if necessary.

Minimal facilities at the airport

Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation has agreed to allow airlines to operate from the small airport.

U-Tapao was used by the US military during the Vietnam War and cannot accommodate the kind of traffic handled by Suvarnabhumi. Its terminal holds only 400 people while it has only 100 parking bays for cars.

Tajuden said MAS will not be operating the full complement of four daily flights to Bangkok.

"This was due to the minimal facilities that we could arrange at U-Tapao airport. We do hope this will provide our customers another suitable option for their return from Thailand," he added.

"We will accept all passengers holding valid tickets for travel out of Bangkok at no additional cost.

"However, customers will have to reach U-Tapao on their own to travel on our flights. Likewise customers who wish to travel on any one of our twice daily flights from Phuket will also have to make it to this city on their own."

Following this a MAS flight will leave Kuala Lumpur at 3.15pm today and arrive at U-Tapao at 16.20pm (Thai time), before the return flight departs at 5.10pm and lands in KLIA at 8.15pm.

On Saturday, MAS will operate two flights, starting with MH784 at 9.10am and arriving at 10.15am (Thai time) and departing (MH785) U-Tapao at 11.10am.

The second flight (MH788) will depart KLIA at 12.25pm and arrive at 1.30pm while the return flight (MH789) is scheduled to leave at 2.15pm (Thai time) and arrive at KLIA at 5.25pm.

For enquiries, passengers can call MAS office in Bangkok at (+66) 2263 0572 or (+66) 2263 0565 up to 71 (hunting line), as well as MAS' 24-hour Call Centre at 1300 88 3000 in Malaysia.

According to Associated Press , thousands of stranded tourists would be flown by Thai Airways from U-Tapao airport to Singapore or Malaysia where they could catch connecting flights.