She went on holiday but was caught up in a military coup

Sue Clark is safely back home after getting a real taste of the news in the Far East.

Sue, 29, who works for Washington Development Corporation ,was on a two-week holiday in Thailand when rebels staged a military coup earlier this month.

The uprising collapsed in ten hours but it cost several lives, including two western journalists, and left many wounded.

Sue, of Poplar Street, Waldridge, near Chesterle-Street, brought back a copy of the English language newspaper, The Nation, as a reminder of the bizarre holiday.

She was with a group of 40 other people from the North East and had left Bangkok on an excursion when the takeover bid started.

They arrived back in the capital city around 5pm on September 9 to find it a changed place.

“It should have been the middle of the rush hour but the roads were virtually deserted. As we got nearer the centre we could see tanks on street corners and soldiers patrolling,” she said.

Vehicles were being stopped on the outskirts to check identity cards but their bus was allowed through unhindered.

“When we got back to the hotel there was a note under a door advising people not to go out and saying there was a state of emergency,” she added.

The coup was over as quickly as it started.