Tourists hunker down as Storm Pabuk lashes Thailand

Chinese tourists disembark at Surat Thani airport after tour operators were forced to suspend boats to tourist islands due to tropical storm Pabuk, in the southern Thai province of Surat Thani on January 4, 2019.

Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, Jan 4, 2019 (AFP) - Tourists marooned on Thai islands hunkered down Friday as Tropical Storm Pabuk struck the kingdom, forcing airports and ferries to close and bringing power blackouts, heavy rains and massive sea swells.

Boats were recalled to shore across the Gulf of Thailand, while three key southern airports were shut until Saturday, leaving tourists who remain on islands now cut off from the mainland.