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Today, the Thai Constitutional Court disbanded the ruling party and banned Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from politics for five years, seemingly bringing an end to the crisis that has gripped the country for the past week. The anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has agreed to cease its occupation of Bangkok's two major airports, allowing an estimated 250,000 stranded tourists to return home. As this is my first (and hopefully last) time being evacuated from a political crisis, I thought I'd share my experiences.

Last Tuesday evening, unbeknownst to me I arrived on one of the last flights getting into Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport. Shortly thereafter, thousands of PAD protestors stormed the airport, blocking all traffic in and out, pouring into the lobby, and taking over the airport's control tower. The neighboring Don Muang airport fell shortly thereafter, effectively halting all air traffic into and out of the country. I, along with hundreds of thousands of fellow travelers, was soon living my own episode of Gilligan's Island. My 15 hour layover had turned into a week's puzzle on how I was going to get home.

At first, the blockade seemed a temporary stunt to draw attention to the PAD's cause, but as both sides dug in it became increasingly unclear as to what would happen. The head of the military called for the Prime Minister's resignation but was unwilling to force a coup. Claiming that he had been democratically elected, the Prime Minister refused to step down and ordered the police to secure the airport. The police were reluctant to use force, perhaps gun shy from the last time they attempted to disperse a crowd which led to several deaths from defective Chinese gas canisters that accidentally exploded on impact. With the police unable or unwilling to act, the PAD protestors soon drove them away from the police checkpoints set up to prevent new protestors from entering the airport.

In spite of the chaos at the airports, everything in the city was functioning surprisingly normally (see my note from Nov 26). The Thai people seemed nonchalant about the situation and profusely apologetic to foreigners about the inconvenience. With a booming tourist industry responsible for billions of dollars in revenue and millions of jobs each year, many Thais were understandably upset that the protestors had chosen the airport as their manifestation venue. Of course, one can hardly argue that their efforts were not successful given today's decision and prior efforts to block street transportation in Bangkok had failed.

Fortunately for me and the 30+ other Microsoft employees stranded in Bangkok, Microsoft Security acted quickly to identify all employees in the area and arrange for alternative transportation. Plan A was to take a 15+ hour bus ride to the southern city of Phuket or to Penang in Malaysia, but that plan was quickly scuttled due to potential danger in the northern parts of Malaysia which are occasionally plagued by separatist unrest. We were advised to remain in our hotels and wait it out until the airport cleared.

Four days into the crisis, the decision was made to evacuate all employees in the country. We were instructed to remain on 30 minutes' notice for immediate transportation to U-Tapao, the military airport 160km southeast of Bangkok. Normally used for military and the occasional chartered flight, the government had recently opened up the airport to commercial and additional chartered flights so people could leave the country. Not surprisingly, the oil companies in the country were first to charter flights and get their employees out. This was practically a normal day in the office given some of the places they operate! For us peaceful country-loving technology types, we had to figure out what to do. Fortunately for us, this was more a matter of practicality of getting home. At no time were we in any serious danger. For all their protests and throwing out of governments, the Thais usually manage their coups without bloodshed. Lucky me was almost part of this during my last trip to Thailand in 2006, the last time they overthrew their government!

The word came on Saturday evening that the first 12 employees were to be evacuated on Saturday night, and the rest of us were booked on a charter flight out of U-Tapao at 4pm on Sunday. We were told to meet in the lobby of the Conrad hotel near Microsoft's office at 9am sharp for our all-day journey out of the country to Singapore. I had read about the chaos in the newspapers, but I had no idea what fun awaited en route to the 1 hour, 55 minute flight! Here's how the day played out:

• 7am: Rise and shine on five hours sleep. Pack bags, take my last shower for awhile, eat a quick breakfast, and check out of the hotel.

• 8:55am: Arrive at Conrad hotel. The Microsoft crew was already waiting, checking us in one by one and handing us our care packets. They really didn't miss a trick-water, an Au Bon Pain sandwich, chocolates, all in a keepsake bag. One guy mistakenly thought we were meeting at 10am, so we waited for him while he hustled to get ready.

• 9:30am: Load shuttles to the Bangkok Convention Center to check in and pass through immigration.

• 9:50am: Arrive at Bangkok Convention Center. What a mess! There were literally THOUSANDS of people queuing up on the street. It took me a full two minutes to walk from the beginning of the line to the end. Along the way were numerous provisions of water and food, scattered luggage, taxis, buses, tuk tuks, and potbellied pigs. (Okay, so there weren't any potbellied pigs, but it would have been cool if there were). We drag our bags to the end of the line and prepare to wait.

• 10:20am: Someone realizes we're on a charter flight and don't have to wait in line! Or at least not THAT line.

• 10:30am: Our tour bus has arrived, so we all load our luggage inside and wait for our group to be called to immigration.

• 10:50am: Immigration is ready for us. With surprising speed, we all enter the loading dock of the convention center and get our stamps. I was actually expecting some sort of interrogation, but they processed us in about 10 seconds, and we were free to go.

• 11:00am: Whoops, haven't tagged the bags yet for the flight. We all stand in a line-up and point to our luggage while two guys put numbered tags on them. I drew 55 and 56.

• 11:45am: An emotional goodbye to the two rock star women in the Bangkok office who helped arrange our flights. They both got big hugs from everyone in the group while we filed into the bus.

• Noon: It's a go! The bus is moving. U-Tapao or bust! Microsoft had chartered a tour bus for our journey, so our Thai tour guide begins pointing out historic sites and explaining Thai culture while apologizing for all the trouble and urging us to come back to Thailand to visit. Interestingly enough, not one Thai person I spoke with ever said which side they were on. They seemed most concerned about us and that we were the inadvertent victims of the circumstances.

• 12:30pm: Our Thai tourist guide says that when she is done with the tour, she wanted everyone to sing a song from their home country. I figured the Aussies on the bus, whom I figured comprised about half the group, would sing a mass rendition of "Tie Me Kangaroo Down". As the lone American, I debated whether to counter with "America, the Beautiful" or "Team America". Hmmm...

• 1:30pm: Bathroom and food break at a local gas station. Our tour guides treated us all to chicken sandwiches with ketchup and bottled water. Still figuring out which song I'm going to sing.

• 2:00pm: Rather unsettling explanation from our tour guide about how one should beware of Thai "lady boys". Yikes. I turned my attention to the fields of pineapple farms and rolling hills in the distance.

• 2:15pm: There it is! U-Tapao airport! We're greeted by trucks and military conveys at the entrance. Lounging in the grass, the solders smile and wave as we enter. These are the friendliest army troops I've ever seen. They must fend off their enemies with graciousness and unilateral acts of goodwill.

• 2:30pm: We circle the base to find a parking spot. A lineup of cars about a mile long piles up behind us. The parking lot, which only fits 100 cars, is completely full. Oddly, there's an old wooden Thai fishing boat sitting in the middle of the lot. Ummm, okay. We pull into a grassy field and prepare to disembark.

• 2:45pm: As we get off the bus, chaos ensconces us. Hundreds of buses, taxis, and military vehicles crowd the roads, while entrepreneurial locals have set up makeshift concession stands, complete with snacks, curry, and Pad Thai. I joke that this is the Airport Business Class Lounge. Thousands and thousands of tourists mill about, from every nationality imaginable. As we're snapping away with our cameras, someone comments, "First we take pictures of the mess, then we become part of it!" In a strange way, I have a feeling this is going to be fun.

• 3:00pm: Dragging our bags across the field, we set up camp in a tiny area of concrete behind the throngs of people. The other tourist groups bring in KFC and McDonald's for everyone. That fried chicken smells good. Should have saved my Au Bon Pain, darn it. The airport can only hold 400 people, and there was a crowd of perhaps 10,000 people standing outside. The situation really makes you appreciate the logistics that go into running an airport and making your flight on time. Imagine processing 10,000 people with only one runway and a lone X-ray machine, two check-in counters, no baggage handling equipment or moving walkways, no terminals or covered walkways, or anything else that we've become so accustomed to working properly. In the two hours we were at the airport, I counted four planes that landed and only one that took off. I'll never complain about airport delays again, or at least not until next year (thankfully, only a few weeks away). We all patiently wait for our flight to be called. Great cheers erupt from the crowd every time a group's number is called. Military personnel mill about amidst the army trucks, portable toilet buses, and makeshift luggage trucks.

• 4:40pm: Our number is called! Only 40 minutes late, that beats United Airlines on a good day! We walk to the air strip, leaving our luggage in a pile for two Thai guys to load into the back of a pickup truck. Best of all, we didn't have to take off our shoes for the security check. In fact, there WAS no security check. I guess they figured terrorists wouldn't go through all this trouble just to hijack a plane!

• 4:45pm: Waiting in a tent by the airstrip for our shuttle bus to the plane. I watch a giant 747 Thai Airways plane land on the airstrip (very cool). A sign greets us with "Bon Voyage" in several languages. Open air buses of jubilant tourists pass by. Everyone is waving and has a big smile on their face.

• 4:57pm: Here comes our ride! We all pile into small vans and drive down to the end of the runway. I counted 17 planes on the ground, from airlines as diverse as Austrian Air, Singapore Airlines, Turkmenistan Airways (do they even have an airline company?), Kenya Airways, FedEx (Castaway, anyone?), and SAS.

• 5:05pm: Boarding the plane at last! Ours is a quaint little Nok Air 737 that seats 147 people. The entire plane is full. I wonder what the incentive would be to give up your ticket on this one? The plane ride was one of the bumpiest I've ever been on (during one tummy-lifter, one guy spilled his coffee on everyone within a two row radius and even stained the ceiling of the plane with a giant coffee splotch!), but you couldn't describe the wonderful mood everyone was in to be on that plane. There was a roar of applauds at takeoff and even more when we landed in Singapore. I arrived at the hotel at 11pm, just in time to get up at 4:30am for my two-connection, 24 hour flight home!

Although I missed Thanksgiving, I figure we all have a lot to be thankful for this year. In spite of the chaos in Thailand, violence in Mumbai and throughout the world, and economic woes we face here at home, there are so many reasons to be grateful. Sometimes it takes an experience like this to make us realize just how lucky we are.