Thai demonstrators leave airports

Anti-government protesters have begun leaving Bangkok's main airports after an eight-day siege that paralysed government and stymied tourism. Anti-government protesters have begun leaving Bangkok's main airports after an eight-day siege that paralysed government and stymied tourism.
They packed up bedding and began leaving the international and domestic airports as cleaners moved in.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) called off the protests and after a court banned Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from politics.
The protests have left thousands of tourists stranded in Thailand.
The country has lost millions of dollars in revenue.
The PAD had been demanding the resignation of the prime minister, who they say is a proxy for deposed leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
Mr Somchai, who has been waiting out the siege in the northern city of Chiang Mai, says his allies will be forming a caretaker government with a new leader shortly.
Unpopular
The Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that the three parties in the ruling coalition must disband. Each of them has since been re-formed under new names.
The same Constitutional Court deposed a pro-Thaksin government in September - that of Samak Sundaravej.
The PAD insisted on fighting on against allies of Mr Thaksin.
This time, although Mr Somchai's allies plan to field a new government, the PAD is claiming victory.
Correspondents noted that the airport blockade was becoming increasingly unpopular, so that Tuesday's court ruling against Mr Somchai offered a face-saving moment for the protesters to back down.
But the divisions that caused the protests, and regular recourse to more activists courts to act against the government, remain, correspondents said.
Frome bbc.com