NO PAYOUT FOR STRANDED TRAVELERS

I briefly wrote yesterday about the 'civil unrest' exclusion that will appear in the small print of most travel insurance policies. Looking at one example policy for the UK's AXA, the summarised wording relating to what's been happening in Bangkok states:

'We will not pay for claims arising directly or indirectly from ... terrorism, civil unrest, insurrection or revolution (all could apply in this case) ... BUT this exclusion shall not apply to losses under Emergency Medical and other expenses, Hospital Benefits and Personal Accident UNLESS the disturbances were already taking place at the start of any trip'.

I'm no insurance expect but I would take this to mean you're not covered in any way if you're one of those currently stranded in Bangkok. I think this insurance company could easily argue that the PADs efforts are ongoing and were certainly taking place as far back as May of this year.
Airlines that have cancelled flights are not duty bound to pay for things like food or accommodation. They do have to offer alternative flights when the situation is resolved, whenever that will be.
How many people are stranded? A rough calculation using the 15 million people that passed through Suvarnabhumi in 2007 would indicate around 41,000 people per day are affected. It's likely to be more than that because this is the high season, and remember too that half of that number will not even have set foot in Thailand yet.