divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/50703?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+First+flight+reaches+Bangkok+after+airport+blockade+endsch=World+newsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Thailand+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Ian+MacKinnon%2CPeter+Walkerc7=2008_12_03c8=1127880c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Thailandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FThailand" width="1" height="1" //divpThe first commercial flight in a week arrived at Bangkok's international airport today after anti-government protesters ended their siege following the removal of the country's prime minister./ppA Thai Airways service from the resort island of Phuket landed at Suvarnabhumi airport at 2.15pm local time. Flights to destinations around the world were due to leave later in the day, although it remained unclear when a full schedule would resume./ppThe sudden end to the protest follows a court decision yesterday that disbanded the ruling party and banned the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, from office./ppThere are likely to be further delays for the 300,000 foreign tourists stranded since the sit-in began a week ago, all but paralysing Thailand's lucrative tourist industry./ppActivists from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which had demanded Somchai quit and the government step down, also ended their occupation of Bangkok's domestic airport./ppA spokesman for the group said protesters at both sites had been told to "clean up and pack their belongings" before leaving. The PAD staged a "handover ceremony" at the international terminal. The head of Thailand's airports authority shook hands with protest leaders as activists danced to music./ppAlthough the PAD has claimed victory in forcing Somchai out, the court decision is unlikely to dramatically alter Thailand's divided political landscape./ppThe ruling raises the spectre of street violence. Government supporters angered by the judges' decision surrounded the Bangkok court and refused to allow the judiciary to leave. A few hours earlier a grenade was thrown at Bangkok's barricaded domestic terminal, Don Muang, killing one demonstrator and injuring 22./ppJudges from the constitutional court found the People Power party (PPP) and two senior coalition partners guilty of electoral fraud for vote-buying in last December's general election and barred the prime minister from office for five years. Another 59 executives from the three parties were banned from political office, among them 24 MPs who will have to resign their seats./ppImmediately after the decision to disband the PPP and the Machima Thipatai and Chart Thai parties, Somchai said he would abide by the rule of law and stand aside, describing it as "not a problem. I was not working for myself. Now I will be a full-time citizen."/ppThe ruling coalition's six parties immediately said they would re-form under a new banner, which is permitted by the constitution. The PPP's surviving MPs are to join Puea Thai (For Thailand) and choose a new prime minister next week./ppThe PAD leadership embraced the court decision, perhaps grabbing an opportunity to save face and remove itself from the airport siege that has seen its backing dwindle among Thailand's metropolitan monarchist elite./pp"We have finished our duty," said the PAD leader, Sondhi Limthongkul, who had branded the government a proxy of the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. "If a puppet government returns or a new government shows its insincerity in pushing for political reform, we will return."/ppThe warning and the government supporters' decision to continue their own protests against yesterday's court ruling herald the prospect of further turmoil, though both sides will stand down for King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 81st birthday celebrations in two days./pp"The divisions are so deep, it's difficult to see how it could be over," said Giles Ungpakhorn, a political analyst at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, who described the court ruling as a "judicial coup" to strip the PPP of power. /ppFor tourists stranded for the past week, the departure of the thousands of PAD supporters comes as a huge relief. The first cargo aircraft left Suvarnabhumi yesterday afternoon after an agreement with the PAD, helping to reduce the economic distress of lost Thai export earnings of £53m a day./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/thailand"Thailand/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/4XVYg7yAMeyS2tQ2bbROLl1flFo/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/4XVYg7yAMeyS2tQ2bbROLl1flFo/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Bangkok's international airport can resume "partial service" by midnight Thursday after anti-government protesters end their blockade on Wednesday morning, the airport manager said.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=HPXcHoga"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=WV8uhFTn"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?i=WV8uhFTn" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=LeLrwluZ"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?i=LeLrwluZ" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~4/TnpQFTs16W0" height="1" width="1"/

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/93280?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Thai+protesters+to+end+airport+siege+after+court+rulingch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Thailand+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Ian+MacKinnonc7=2008_12_03c8=1127759c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Thailandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FThailand" width="1" height="1" //divpAnti-government protesters in Thailand signalled the end of their siege of Bangkok's international airport yesterday, hours after a court disbanded the ruling party and banned the prime minister from office. The People's Alliance for Democracy, which had demanded that the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, quit and the government step down, claimed victory and said it would today end its week-long sit-in, which has left 300,000 foreign travellers stranded./ppBut uncertainty surrounded the resumption of flights at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport. The airport director said he could not decide the restart date until sensitive systems had been examined./ppThe sudden end to the dramatic standoff that has paralysed the country's lucrative tourist industry caught observers by surprise. The court's decision is unlikely to dramatically alter Thailand's political landscape, which is riven with divisions./ppThe ruling also raised the spectre of street violence after government supporters angered by the judges' decision surrounded the Bangkok court and refused to allow the judiciary to leave. Hours earlier a grenade was thrown at Bangkok's barricaded domestic terminal, Don Muang, killing one demonstrator and injuring 22./ppJudges from the constitutional court found the People Power party (PPP) and two senior coalition partners guilty of electoral fraud for vote buying in last December's general election and barred the prime minister from office for five years. Another 59 executives from the three parties were also banned from political office, among them 24 MPs who will have to resign their seats./ppImmediately after the decision to disband the PPP and the Machima Thipatai and Chart Thai parties, Somchai said he would abide by the rule of law and stand aside, describing it as "not a problem. I was not working for myself. Now I will be a full time citizen"./ppThe ruling coalition's six parties immediately said they would reform under a new banner, a move not barred by the constitution. The PPP's surviving MPs are to join Puea Thai (For Thailand) and choose a new prime minister next week./ppBut the PAD leadership embraced the court's decision, perhaps grabbing an opportunity to save face and remove itself from the airport siege that has seen its backing among Thailand's metropolitan monarchist-elite dwindling./pp"We have finished our duty," said the PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul, who had branded the government a proxy of the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. "If a puppet government returns or a new government shows its insincerity in pushing for political reform, we will return."/ppThe warning and the government supporters' decision to continue their own protests against yesterday's court ruling herald the prospect of further turmoil, though both sides will take a breather for King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 81st birthday celebrations in two days./pp"The divisions are so deep, it's difficult to see how it could be over," said Giles Ungpakhorn, a political analyst at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, who described the court ruling as a "judicial coup" to strip the PPP of power. /ppBut for the tourists stranded by the stalemate that began a week ago, the departure of the thousands of PAD supporters comes as a huge relief. The first cargo aircraft left Suvarnabhumi yesterday afternoon after an agreement with the PAD, helping to reduce the economic distress of lost export earnings costing Thailand pound;53m each day. /ppThe acting head of Thailand's airports authority, Serirat Prasutanont, said he would be able to make a statement later today about when Suvarnabhumi could return to normal./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/thailand"Thailand/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/q77aE3I7XIpLVrETxpzz_sFX-A4/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/q77aE3I7XIpLVrETxpzz_sFX-A4/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/9118?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Thailand+PM+stripped+of+power+as+court+finds+government+guilty+of+corruptionch=World+newsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Thailand+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Ian+MacKinnonc7=2008_12_02c8=1127347c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Thailandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FThailand" width="1" height="1" //divpThe political crisis that has paralysed Thailand and stranded as many as 300,000 international travellers took a dramatic turn today when a court disbanded the ruling party and banned the prime minister from office./ppJudges from the constitutional court found the People Power party (PPP) and two senior coalition partners guilty of electoral fraud for vote-buying in last December's general election and barred the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, from office for five years./ppBut hopes that an altered political landscape might satisfy the anti-government protesters and bring a swift end to the week-long blockade at Bangkok's two airports were dimmed when the ruling coalition's six parties signalled their intention to reform under a new banner./ppThe ruling also raised the spectre of street violence after government supporters angered by the judges' widely expected decision surrounded the Bangkok court and refused to allow the judiciary to leave the building./ppOvernight, a grenade was thrown from a flyover near Bangkok's barricaded domestic Don Muang terminal, killing one person and injuring 22 other sleeping protesters./ppAnalysts portrayed the situation on the ground as extremely volatile, while others said the judges' decision made with uncharacteristic haste was tantamount to a covert coup through which a royalist-military elite sought to strip the elected government of power./pp"Thailand is in the middle of a crisis," said Sunai Thasuk, of Human Rights Watch, who was at the courthouse. "The government supporters are very, very upset. The climate is very volatile and both sides have been known to use violence against each other. It's a highly dangerous situation."/ppBritons caught by the shutdown of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International airport a week ago told of their fears over the political turmoil, and mounting frustrations over their inability to find a way to leave the country./ppBut one glimmer of hope came as the international airport today reopened to cargo flights, reducing the economic impact of lost export earnings, estimated to be £53m daily./ppDemonstrators for the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy, who invaded Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang to demand the government quit and Somchai step down, were overjoyed when they heard the verdict./pp"My heart is happy," said Pailin Jampapong, 41, choking back tears of joy among the throng at Suvarnabhumi. "My friends are very happy."/ppImmediately after the decision to disband the PPP, Machima Thipatai and Chart Thai parties, Somchai said he would abide by the rule of law and stand aside, describing it as "not a problem. I was not working for myself. Now I will be a full-time citizen."/ppBut the ruling that bans Somchai and 36 party executives and MPs does not prevent the PPP rump reforming. They immediately signalled they would move to the new party of Puea Thai (For Thailand) - a measure not barred by the constitution./ppThe former minister Jakrapob Penkair, a close confidante of the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said the court's decision came as no surprise. "Our members are determined to move on and we will form a government again out of the majority that we believe we still have," he said./ppBut Giles Ungpakorn, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, accused the "fascist Pad", judges and the monarchist-military elite in the capital of staging a "judicial coup" to rob the rural poor government supporters of their rights./pp"The majority of the Thai population, who are poor, face a double whammy," he said. "First, the elite royalists are doing everything possible to take away their basic democratic rights. Secondly, mass job losses are occurring among workers in the tourist industry as a result of the airport blockade. The Pad protesters are middle-class extremists who don't have to go to work."/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/thailand"Thailand/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/SGJm_pjvkSjlpsey6JBrvpzIE2w/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/SGJm_pjvkSjlpsey6JBrvpzIE2w/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/91177?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Thailand+prime+minister+to+step+down+after+court+strips+him+of+officech=World+newsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Thailand+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Matthew+Weaverc7=2008_12_02c8=1127297c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Thailandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FThailand" width="1" height="1" //divpThailand's prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, is set to step down today with the rest of his government after a constitutional court banned him from office and found his party and two others guilty of electoral fraud./ppThe verdict caused celebrations at Thailand's two main airports, which have been occupied for almost a week by the People's Alliance for Democracy (Pad) – a conservative anti-government protest group./ppThe government spokesman Nattawut Sai-kau said the prime minister and his ruling, six-party coalition would step down.br /"We will abide by the law. The coalition parties will meet together to plan for its next move soon," he said./ppPad members at Bangkok's international airport cheered and hugged as they heard news of the verdict./ppSomchai's People's Power party, the Machima Thipatai party and the Chart Thai party were found guilty of committing fraud in the December 2007 elections that brought the coalition to power./ppThe court's president, Chat Chalavorn, said he was dissolving the parties "to set a political standard and an example"./pp"Dishonest political parties undermine Thailand's democratic system," he said in the court's ruling./ppPro-government supporters at the court dismissed the verdict as a "judicial coup"./ppThe ruling sends Somchai and dozens of party executives into political exile, barring them from the country's politics for five years./ppBut other members of the three parties that escaped the ban can join other parties, form a new coalition and choose a new prime minister. It is expected that Somchai will remain the caretaker prime minister until then./ppPad maintains that Somchai is a puppet of his brother-in-law, the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Alarmed by rural support for Thaksin's populist policies it wants an appointed parliament, dominated by bureaucrats and the military./ppThousands of members of the protest alliance have been at the main Suvarnabhumi international airport and the domestic Don Muang airport for almost a week. Earlier today, an anti-government protester was killed at Don Muang when a grenade was thrown./ppThe protests have stranded more than 300,000 and brought the Thailand's lucrative tourism industry to a standstill./ppAt the Suvarnabhumi airport, the verdict was read out on a protest stage outside the main terminal./pp"It is good because the [corrupt] politicians have been told to get out. It is good for Thailand. This is a blow for corruption," said Nong Sugrawut, a 55-year-old businessman who was among the thousands camped at Suvarnabhumi./ppPoliticians banned by the verdict refused to comment./pp"The court just banned me and my party from political activity so I can't give you any comment," said Kuthep Saikrajang, a People's Power party spokesman./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/thailand"Thailand/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/xxgTMrU09K-go9S5RZ_CYcUETIo/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/xxgTMrU09K-go9S5RZ_CYcUETIo/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p