Thai protesters allow some planes to leave

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) - Anti-government protesters occupying Bangkok's international airport have allowed more than three dozen commercial aircraft to leave for a naval base where stranded passengers can try to catch flights back home, an airport authority spokeswoman said Monday.

By Monday afternoon, 37 aircraft had left the Suvarnabhumi international airport, where hundreds of demonstrators have brought air traffic in the capital to a halt. All but one airplane, which flew empty to Shanghai, landed at the U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield about 140 km (90 miles) southeast of Bangkok, spokeswoman Monrudee Gettuphan said.

Authorities have estimated 100,000 passengers have been stranded since protesters led by the opposition People's Alliance for Democracy seized the airport on Tuesday. The alliance also has taken over another, smaller airport the government had been using as its temporary office after being shut out of its headquarters by other demonstrations.

At times, the protests have turned violent. A pair of explosions injured 49 people - three of them seriously - when what was believed to be a grenade was launched at protesters at the Thai government house, said Dr. Petchpong Kumjornkijjakarn, director of the Eruwan Rescue Center. The government house has been under the control of the protesters for the past three months.