Thai restores international air links

Although barred from a political role by the constitution, the king has helped settle several political crises in the past.

"Expectations are very high. If the royal comments are seen as fair and balanced with a way (out of the crisis), people will try to think about that and maybe to push for that way forward," said Thitinan Pongsidhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

But Thitinan said the king's guidance, if any, might not be sufficient to heal the country's deep polarization.

"It's also possible that one side or the other will see it as insufficient, in which case they will not stand down and go home quietly. It is uncertain whether all sides will accept the royal comments," he said.

The anti-government movement grew out of the alliance's campaign in late 2005 against then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He was ousted in a 2006 military coup amid accusations of gross corruption and attempting to undermine the monarchy.

Thaksin's supporters won elections held under military rule in December 2007. The alliance rejected the outcome, saying the new government was a proxy for Thaksin. On Aug. 26, alliance members stormed and occupied the grounds of Government House, which houses the prime minister's office.

They stormed the airports last week to prevent Prime Minister Somchai from returning to Bangkok from a Pacific summit in Peru. The government was unable to muster the clear support of the army or police to evict the protesters.

Thaksin, who fled the country to escape an array of corruption charges, remains popular among the rural poor for his past populist policies.

The alliance says the rural poor are uneducated and susceptible to vote buying. It wants a system in which a majority of lawmakers would be nominated by professional and social groups instead of being elected.

The end to the airport siege "is nothing more than an intermission. It is not over until the two sides of the political spectrum can reconcile, and the prospect of that happening is very bleak," said Charnvit Kasetsiri, a historian and former rector of Bangkok's Thammasat University.

The outgoing ruling coalition parties have 30 days to nominate a new prime minister to be endorsed by Parliament. On Wednesday they named Deputy Prime Minister Chaowarat Chandeerakul as caretaker leader, and were deciding Thursday on a candidate for prime minister.

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