December 3, 2008 Thai Protesters Ending Airport Blockades By SETH MYDANS and THOMAS FULLER HYPERLINK "http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/world/asia/03thai.html?_r=1&th=&emc=th&pa gewanted=print"http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/world/asia/03thai.html?_r=1 &th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print BANGKOK — Protesters began leaving Bangkok’s international airport on Wednesday, one day after Thailand’s Constitutional Court handed them a victory by disbanding the governing party and banning the prime minister from politics. The court ruling, which bars senior members of the People Power Party from politics for five years, prompted the protesters to declare an end to their debilitating weeklong blockade of Bangkok’s two civilian airports. The protests paralyzed cargo shipments and stranded tens of thousands of foreign travelers. Leaders of the People Power Party said they would reconstitute the government under another party name, Pak Pua Thai (the Party for Thais), and would call a session of Parliament on Monday to select a new prime minister. The party’s claim on parliamentary votes was not assured, however, and the antigovernment forces celebrated the ruling. The demonstrators, largely drawn from the elite and middle-class establishment, have been protesting for three years against leadership that they said remained loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in a coup in September 2006. Mr. Thaksin, whose five and a half years of rule were clouded by accusations of corruption, drew his strength by empowering the rural poor, a divisive approach in a country with one of the world’s deepest divides between rich and poor. The court ruling has added momentum to the protest movement’s hopes to dilute the hinterland’s rising electoral power. At Suvarnabhumi International Airport, the reaction when the court’s ruling was announced was euphoric. Demonstrators cheered and wept with joy in a throng outside the departure area, where hundreds of people had set up camps with sleeping mats, bedrolls and even tents. “I’m extremely happy that we have won over tyranny, over the Thaksin regime, which is corrupt and dictatorial,” said Dr. Chokchuang Chutinaton, a veteran of the protest rallies. Tonkla Maksuk, 49, a volunteer nurse with the People’s Alliance for Democracy, which has led the protests, said: “I’m glad. I feel relieved. It’s like something that we have been carrying is now gone. I feel that this is still a country of laws.” It was not clear when passenger and cargo service would resume at the enormous and normally busy international airport and a smaller domestic hub, Don Muang Airport, but the damage to Thailand’s agricultural export trade and tourist industry has been deep. Tens of thousands of foreign travelers were stranded. The unanimous ruling issued by the Constitutional Court to disband the ruling party represented an expanding activist role for Thailand’s judiciary, which has in effect been a political player since early 2006. The easing of the national crisis came three days before the 81st birthday of Thailand’s venerated monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, an occasion on which he is expected to make his annual address to the nation. Despite the ruling, the threat of violence continued, with fears building of a possible backlash by government supporters. For the most part, the protests have proceeded peacefully, but an explosion at Don Muang early Tuesday killed one protester. The ruling disbanded not only the governing People Power Party but also two smaller coalition parties; the court found that they had committed fraud during the elections last December that brought them to power. It forced out Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, a brother-in-law of Mr. Thaksin’s. “It is not a problem,” said Mr. Somchai, an unassuming former judge who had seemed overwhelmed by the pressures of the job. “I was not working for myself. Now I will be a full-time citizen.” He spoke to reporters in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where he had conducted government business since returning from an overseas trip last Wednesday. He had been forced to move from Don Muang Airport, where the government had based itself after protesters surrounded the prime minister’s office in August. Under the court ruling, Mr. Somchai and 59 executives of the three parties are banned from politics for five years. Twenty-four of the banned executives are members of Parliament and will have to resign their seats. Officials from Mr. Somchai’s party said they would reassemble in a new political party, Pak Pua Thai (the Party for Thais), and would call a session of Parliament on Monday to select a new prime minister. Until a new government is formed, Deputy Prime Minister Chawarat Chanweerakun is to act as interim prime minister. The activist role of the courts in politics can be traced partly to a rare speech by the king to judges in April 2006. He called the political situation at the time “a mess” and said, “You’d better discuss with others what solutions are available; otherwise the country will be in jeopardy.” In May 2007, the Constitutional Court banned Mr. Thaksin and 110 other senior party leaders from participating in politics for five years, for election fraud. The court also forced the dissolution of Thai Rak Thai, the predecessor party to the party disbanded Tuesday. In September this year, Mr. Somchai’s predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, was forced out after less than eight months in office when the court ruled that he had unlawfully accepted payments to appear on television cooking shows while prime minister.
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