Planes leave Thai airport empty

Around 40 empty planes have been allowed to fly out of Bangkok's main airport in order to take stranded travellers out of Thailand after they were grounded by days of anti-government protests.

The Thai authorities have reached a deal with the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) that allows 88 jets to leave Suvarnabhumi international airport empty, and fly to regional airports in Thailand, from where they will start to evacuate around 100,000 tourists - including thousands of Britons.

However, Bangkok's two main airports remain closed, with hundreds of protestors gathered there carrying portraits of the king and wearing yellow. The demonstrators thre are strenghtening their numbers by closing down another protest in the centre of Bangkok.

Thailand's tourist industry is losing an estimated $85m (£55.4m) per day. The Thai government says it expects half as many foreign visitors as usual next year, with travellers detered by the news of the protest, at a cost of 1m jobs in tourism.