A MOTHER from Stroud was stuck in Bangkok when protestors blockaded two airports. Judith Large, 57, of Rodborough, had to fly back to the UK two days later than planned from a military airport after hundreds of anti-government protesters stormed terminal buildings.

The conflict analyst was in the Asia-Pacific region for a meeting on the Indonesian peace process.

But the meeting was cancelled after other delegates were unable to get there due to the blockades.

"The airport is such a nerve point for modern life," she said.

"It’s good news for the protestors but bad for other people because it stops imports and exports and it stops tourism.

"They’ve got quite limited support from the public."

Mrs Large originally planned to leave Thailand on Tuesday, December 2 but only managed to get a flight two days later.

"They converted a gymnasium into a check-in point and I waited for a few hours until there was an available place.

"Then they bussed people to a military airport and we waited there until we could get flights out.

"I enjoyed that because they had small Thai Navy planes."

Mrs Large, a mother-of-four, also witnessed the demonstrations at key official buildings, where protestors have been calling for the government to resign.

"The protest is incredibly internal – it’s two fairly elitist groups," she said.

"This is about dominance for political power at the top.

"There are a lot of major things playing themselves out in their society and I would prefer to see this sort of thing rather than people driven to violence.

"It was quite interesting to observe it."

Mrs Large, of Rodborough Avenue, returned to Stroud on Friday, December 5.

The meeting was re-arranged for February.