Tepat jam 5 pagi kami pon bertolak menaiki van menuju ke military base airport di U-tapao. Kami singgah minum di tengah perjalanan dan sampai di airport kira-kira jam 8 pagi. Keadaan pada masa itu tidak berapa sesak tetapi sudah ramai yang berada di sana.
Bagi aku keadaan sememangnya huru-hara pada masa itu apabila mereka hanya mempunyai sebuah scanner untuk menampung beribu-ribu orang yang mahu pulang ke tanahair masing-masing.
Jam 6 petang baru ada panggilan untuk MAS dan kali ini memang pesawat kami. Kami perlu menaiki bas menuju pesawat. Setiba di pesawat, kami difahamkan pesawat kami perlu menunggu giliran untuk mengisi minyak dan pihak airport terpaksa mengambil minyak dari luar yang mengambil masa lama. Harap-harap mereka (pemberontak) tidak menghalang perjalanan lori-lori yang menghantar minyak itu ke airport. Jam 7.10 malam waktu Thailand, baru lah pesawat kami berlepas ke Malaysia dan setelah sejam perjalanan, barulah kami diberi makan...lapar sungguh masa itu. Bayangkan aku hanya makan dua bungkus maggi sebelum bertolak ke airport, jam 8 malam baru dapat makan.
Kami tiba di KLIA pada jam 10 malam dan selepas mengambil bagasi, aku kemudian terus menuju ke stesyen ERL ke KL Sentral. ERL bertolak dari KLIA pada jam 10.40 malam dan aku tiba di sana 28 minit kemudian. Pada masa itu, mak dan ayah serta ija dan effa telah ada di situ. Aku tiba di rumah lebih kurang jam 12 tengah malam.
Setiba di rumah, aku dihidangkan dengan pelbagai makanan. Semuanya sedap-sedap belaka. Tak lawan masakan yang ada di Malaysia yang sememangnya halal dan bersih. Mak buatkan aku pulut kuning berkuahkan kari telur dan udang, serta sambal ikan cencaru kegemaranku. Kari daging, sambal sotong, sayur pucuk paku goreng, paceri nenas dimasak mak ija. Alhamdulillah, syukur aku sudah sampai di rumah dalam keadaan selamat.
Keratan akhbar Bangkok Post
U-Tapao - Not even the dancing girls provided by a local hotel could cheer thousands of travellers as they tried to flee protest-hit Thailand through this Vietnam-era airbase.
"This is my first time in Thailand and I probably won't come back," said Glen Squires, a 47-year-old tourist from England, casting a glum eye over the crowds.
"What they've done is shot themselves in the foot."
Since Friday, the U-Tapao naval base about 190 kilometres (118 miles) southeast of Bangkok has been the only way in or out of the country for tourists stranded by an anti-government blockade of the capital's main airports.
Travelers who arrived here found crowds of tired and angry passengers, armed guards, piles of garbage, mountains of luggage, and an increasingly tense and surreal atmosphere.
Built in the 1960s by the US air force and equipped with just one X-ray scanner for bags, the airbase can only handle around 40 flights a day, compared to the 700-flight capacity of Bangkok's gleaming Suvarnabhumi international airport.
But thanks to the demonstrations, it's all that Thailand has to offer.
"I think it's stupid," said Danny Mosaffi, 57, from New York City. "They have killed tourism in this country, the authorities should go do something. Nobody is going to come here."
Thai authorities say around 30,000 travellers a day -- both Thai and foreign -- have had flights cancelled since the occupation of Suvarnabhumi on Tuesday in what the protesters are calling their "final battle" against the government.
Some travel agents bussed passengers down to U-Tapao, which is near the tourist resort of Pattaya, but with information proving difficult to come by in Bangkok, others came on their own more in hope than expectation.
Huge traffic jams built up outside the sprawling compound. Thai soldiers with M16 rifles guarded the entrance to the airport to prevent anti-government protesters from gaining access, as travellers lugged their bags under the sun.
Once inside the terminal, it was standing room only. Travelers were unsure where they should check in. Long queues wound around the lone luggage scanner, where soldiers tried to hold back the surging crowd.
"It's complete chaos and pandemonium," said Bonnie Chan, 29, from San Diego, California.
"We've been given incorrect information from the airlines. The US embassy says they can't help us. We're high and dry. The airlines keep giving us the run-around."
With no departures board available, airline employees held up signs that said "Final boarding call, Moscow," while other staff stood inside the security area and pressed signs against a glass window calling for passengers to board a flight to Hong Kong.
At one point, a group of unruly passengers pushed their way through a door to the security screening area after an airport employee announced the final boarding call for a flight to Taipei.
One woman, caught in the surge, began to scream, and the soldiers forced the doors shut.
"We've treated six patients today," said Nan Soontornnon, 24, of Bangkok Hospital in Pattaya, standing with a doctor and nurse in a makeshift clinic.
"Passengers have had headaches, exhaustion, and other problems, like fainting. But this place has protection from the soldiers -- Suvarnabhumi doesn't," she said.
U-Tapao's only other selling point was when female employees from one enterprising Pattaya hotel, taking advantage of the captive audience, put on a traditional Thai dance performance.
The women later donned red and silver dresses with feather boas, singing: "You'll fall in love in Pattaya. There's no better place to be."