An injured woman returning from Thailand is swamped by reporters at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday. She and about 50 Hongkongers returned to the city aboard the third flight chartered by the SAR government. CNS

Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee apologized yesterday to Hongkongers stranded in chaotic Thailand and said he expects them all to be returned home this week by means of additional chartered flights.

"I am willing to hold the responsibility of causing inconvenience to stranded Hongkongers on the arrangement of charters," Lee told the Legislative Council's security panel. "I also apologize to the affected tourists."

The government has worked out an arrangement with Cathay Pacific to send a charter every day, from today until Dec 10 if necessary, to return people from Pattaya. Each flight can carry about 300 passengers.

Two flights were charted to bring back travelers yesterday, in addition to two from Monday. But Lee said just 190 tourists were able to catch the first three flights, even though their total capacity was more than 700.

A passenger from the first chartered flight said the notice was too short for tourists to rush to Pattaya from Bangkok. He had been told about the arrangement by his relatives in Hong Kong.

The security chief said stranded Hongkongers would be informed starting yesterday through text messages and hotels where they stayed.

In response to criticism of the sluggish move, Lee said he understood the feeling of stranded tourists.

"At first we thought there was no threat to their personal safety, but we then found that the political situation wouldn't be improving anytime soon, and the violence could escalate, so we decided to send charters," Lee explained.

Lawmakers blamed the government for not taking immediate action as the Macao government chartered flights to return its people on Friday. Lee said there were only a handful of Macao tours and very few other Macao tourists in Thailand.

"All Hong Kong tours have come back," he said. "We just haven't returned all tourists who traveled by themselves."

He stressed that money is not the major concern in making the decision but said the government must be prudent in using public funds.

Lee pledged to review the incident but emphasized that the government decision was unrelated to the car crash that killed a Hong Kong man trying to leave Thailand.

Members of the Executive Council also criticized the government for a lack of decisive attitude.

Cheng Yiu-tong said top government officials should have been involved in deciding whether to charter flights to Thailand.

He thought the case of former senior civil servant Leung Chin-man, whose post-service employment in the private sector may be investigated by a Legislative Council select committee, had put pressure on some officials.

Cheng said the government has become relunctant to make contingency decisions so as to avoid being held responsible in the future.

As of yesterday, the Immigration Department had received 930 calls for assistance. More than 800 of the callers have returned to Hong Kong or obtained seats on the charters.

(HK Edition 12/03/2008 page1)