Aussies report Thai flights not full

Flights from Thailand to Sydney are leaving half full while hundreds of Australians
remain stranded in Bangkok because of the political siege at the city's two main
airports.
Queensland man Ben Foster-Brown told AAP his father Graham Brown, 60, of the Gold
Coast, had left Utapao military airport on Saturday night on a half empty Thai
Airways flight.
At the same time, Australian authorities are negotiating with their Thai
counterparts to put on more flights from Utapao, which is around 150km from Bangkok.
With the Bangkok airports under siege, the federal government is trying to arrange
evacuation flights from Utapao or the tourist resort of Phuket, nearly 900km by road
from Bangkok.
Qantas is putting on an extra flight from Phuket to Singapore on Monday night but
Australians who manage to get on the plane will have to endure a 14-hour road trip
from the tourist resort.
On Sunday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said the government
was negotiating with Thai Airways to get more flights out of Utapao.
"The government is working very hard, putting pressure on Thai Airways and the Thai
Tourism Authority to get some Thai Airlines flights out and to continue to provide
accommodation assistance," a DFAT spokesman said.
"Australia's ambassador (Paul Grigson) went to Utapao airport himself today to press
Thai authorities to address issues affecting operations at that airport, where there
are long delays."
But Mr Foster-Brown said his father was on a flight with many empty seats.
Mr Foster-Brown organised the flight from Australia and his father, who had been
staying at Pataya Beach around 30 minutes from the airport, flew out late on
Saturday evening.
"He was scheduled to leave on Wednesday ... but that was cancelled," he said.
"I've had a lot of success from getting on to the Thai office here.
"It just doesn't seem like the left hand knows what the right hand is doing over
there, really."
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith's office was not immediately available for comment.