Demonstrators Declare Victory In Thailand

Protesters Who Occupied Thai Airports For A Week Celebarte Prime Minister's Ouster

(AP)  Anti-government demonstrators in Thailand declared victory and said they would end their occupation of the country's two main airports Wednesday after a court decision forced the country's prime minister from office.

While an estimated 300,000 travelers stranded by last week's airport takeovers breathed a bit easier, the question of who will hold power in a democratic Thailand remained unanswered following Tuesday's verdict.

The protesters - who seek to eliminate the one-person, one-vote system - left open the possibility of more unrest saying they will return to the streets if political change does not occur. At least six people have been killed and scores injured in clashes in recent months.

Also unclear was the extent of damage the weeklong airport blockade inflicted on the country's economy, which relies heavily on tourism.

But none of that seemed to matter Tuesday as members of the People's Alliance for Democracy, which led the protest, reveled at the fall of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.

"We will party all night long before leaving tomorrow," said Saisuri Pantupradij, a 45-year-old woman who camped out at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport. "It's sad to say goodbye, but our job here is done. So we must go home."

She and four other women, all wearing yellow feather boas, were dancing and singing karaoke to a Thai folk song in the main hall of the airport terminal. Around them, thousands celebrated, waving Thailand's red white and blue flag, and cheering their nation, their king and themselves.

Still, the protest alliance, which crippled the country's administration by occupying the offices of the prime minister three months ago and saw the courts sack two prime ministers it campaigned against, vowed to resume its militant actions if future developments displeased them.

The group is seeking to purge the nation of the influence of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whom they accuse of massive corruption and seeking to undermine the country's revered constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was ousted by a September 2006 military coup.

On Tuesday, the country's Constitutional Court found Somchai's People's Power Party, the Machima Thipatai party and the Chart Thai party guilty of committing fraud in the December 2007 elections that brought the coalition to power.

"Dishonest political parties undermine Thailand's democratic system," said Constitutional Court President Chat Chalavorn.

The ruling sent Somchai, Thaksin's brother-in-law, and 59 executives of the three parties into political exile, barring them from politics for five years. Of the 59, 24 are lawmakers who will have to abandon their parliamentary seats.

"It is not a problem. I was not working for myself. Now I will be a full-time citizen," Somchai told reporters following the ruling.

Government spokesman Suparak Nakboonnam said Deputy Prime Minister Chaowarat Chandeerakul will become the caretaker prime minister. She said Parliament will have to pick a new prime minister within 30 days.

Somchai had become increasingly isolated in recent weeks. Neither the army, a key player in Thai politics, nor King Bhumibol offered firm backing. Palace circles have not hidden their enmity toward Thaksin and his allies, rattling a decades-old consensus of absolute respect for the monarchy.

But lawmakers of the three dissolved parties who escaped the ban can join other parties, try to cobble together a new coalition and then choose a new prime minister. If their fragile unity fails, new elections are the likeliest outcome - with the chance that Thaksin's allies would again triumph, setting off a whole new cycle of protests.

The alliance, often referred to by its acronym PAD, claims Thailand's rural majority - who gave landslide election victories to the Thaksin camp - is too poorly educated to responsibly choose their representatives and says they are susceptible to vote buying.

It wants the country to abandon the system of one-person, one-vote, and instead have a mixed system in which most representatives are chosen by profession and social group. They have not explained exactly how such a system would work or what would make it less susceptible to manipulation.

The alliance's rivals, government supporters who adore Thaksin for the generous social welfare policies his government implemented for the poor and rural majority when he was in power in 2001-2006, were angry, though uncertain what to do.

"People aren't going to just sit and watch another elected government toppled. The court's decision was wrong and we should question that," said Pracha Niemjaroen, an electronics technician discussing politics with his friends at an open-air restaurant in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Chaturon Chaisaeng, a former Thaksin Cabinet member, suggested there could be civil war if the protest alliance presses for a non-elected government.

"Why do we still condone the PAD, who are waging terrorist attacks against government buildings and the democratic system?" he said. "Do all Thai people have to bow to the PAD's orders and demands?"

Travelers were the clearest immediate beneficiaries of Tuesday's developments. Thai authorities have been running flights in and out of a naval air base at U-Tapao east of Bangkok, but its limited facilities left many travelers looking more like refugees than tourists.

Vudhibhandhu Vichairatana, the chairman of the Airports of Thailand, said Suvarnabhumi international airport will resume operations Friday. He called the plan a birthday gift for King Bhumibol, who turns 81 on Dec. 5. The airport reopened to cargo flights Tuesday.

Hardships related to the severing of air links with Thailand's capital have rippled through the country and the region. The government's finance minister lowered the country's GDP growth forecast from 4.5 percent to about 2 percent and the country's Tourism Council predicted that up to 1 million workers could lose their jobs if foreign visitor numbers plunge by half next year as it now expects.

Travelers Jennifer Cooper, 37 and Peter Cooper, 45, from Melbourne, Australia, took it all in stride despite being trapped for days at the airport.

"It was a free-for-all. People were behind the counters playing with the computers. They were everywhere, back in the duty-free area. Who knows what they did?" Peter said.

"We love Thailand," Jennifer said.

"But when we come back we'll have contingency plans for escaping," she added, with a laugh.

[erasmus606]

People went after Billy for something that was personal. (I didn''''t say that I was a Billy worshipper.)

Posted by erasmus606 at 07:35 PM : Dec 03, 2008

But I am. He''s just too d-a-r-n cute!

[erasmus606]

And of course, the OTHER comment is full of Bush bashing and Clinton worshipping.

Posted by txgrouch2007 at 07:04 AM : Dec 03, 2008

I take offense to that! I was not bashing Bush or worshipping Billy. I was just stating the facts.

People hate Bush. (I didn''t say that "I" hated Bush.)

People went after Billy for something that was personal. (I didn''t say that I was a Billy worshipper.)

[runningralph]

The protesters in Thailand want to do away with the one person one vote system. Why? The protesters say that rural people don''t have enough education to vote. That sounds like slavery. Maybe some sort of literacy test would be appropriate. But to disqualify voters on the basis of where they live is to deprive people of the main basis of human rights. The right to vote.

[txgrouch2007]

People mostly come here to call each other bigots and fight over an election that ended.
Posted by Inketolstoy at 12:18 PM : Dec 03, 2008

This morning, most of them are on another board arguing about God and 9/11. Again. Any minute now, someone will say "Bush is Hitler" or "It was just a BJ."

They''ve already said it was "on Bush''s watch."

[inketolstoy]

Don''t be sad txgrouch. This is CBS. People mostly come here to call each other bigots and fight over an election that ended. They don''t want good news like this. That doesn''t mean that people are not paying attention and learning from it. Today the world is a better place because people in Thailand risked their lives for peaceful change. We will figure it out someday.

[txgrouch2007]

And of course, the OTHER comment is full of Bush bashing and Clinton worshipping.
Posted by txgrouch2007 at 07:04 AM : Dec 03, 2008

And that "other" comment was made by someone who DOESN''T EVEN LIVE IN THE USA.

We put our finger on the pulse of the intellect of the average US citizen. Well, we tried. We couldn''t find it.

The USA is DOA.

[txgrouch2007]

Here''s another question:

Why are there only TWO COMMENTS on this story in 24 hours????

Isn''t anybody even READING this item?

And of course, the OTHER comment is full of Bush bashing and Clinton worshipping.

HEAVY SIGH. We really are so doomed.

[erasmus606]

Why aren''''t we doing this here in the USA?

Posted by txgrouch2007 at 08:41 PM : Dec 02, 2008

What? To get Bush out? I''ve wondered that myself.:)

For how much people hate him, I''m really surprise that nobody has tried. They went after Billy for something that was "personal", why not Bush?

[txgrouch2007]

Why aren''t we doing this here in the USA?