BANGKOK - Anti-government protesters have closed down Hat Yai International Airport in a show of solidarity with fellow demonstrators in Bangkok, which has been put under martial law.

BANGKOK - Anti-government protesters have closed down Hat Yai International Airport in a show of solidarity with fellow demonstrators in Bangkok, which has been put under martial law.

Supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which has occupied Government House in Bangkok for the past week, blocked the entrance gates to Hat Yai airport yesterday, prompting authorities to suspend flights.

Thai Airways International and Nok Air were forced to cancel four afternoon flights between Bangkok and Hat Yai, 730km south of Bangkok, because of the closure.

Yesterday Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej declared the capital under a state of emergency after pro-government and anti-government groups clashed in a pre-dawn street battle that left one person dead and 44 injured.

Thousands of PAD followers seized Government House on August 26 and have occupied Thailand's seat of government since. - Sapa-DPA