BEIJING -- Around 1,400 Chinese tourists stranded in Thailand returned to China on Sunday when Chinese aviation authorities sent planes to Thailand to bring them home after Bangkok's international airport closed because of a protest.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 1,000 Chinese are still stuck in Thailand. Four planes will have been sent to Thailand to retrieve them.
They are expected to return to China Sunday night but it is unknown exactly how many people will be on board.
Southern Airlines said at least one flight, with 374 passengers, should arrive in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province.
No more flights from Thailand will arrive in Beijing on Sunday, said an official of Beijing General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection.
Around 246 passengers landed in Shanghai at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday. This was the first return flight from Thailand. It was delayed for several hours because of the unstable situation at the airport.
It was one of five flights that had already returned tourists to China.
