Thai airports reopen a day after anti-government protests block runways

Two airports that service Thailand's most popular beach destinations reopened Sunday, a day after anti-government protesters occupied the runways.

Supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy forced the closures of Krabi and Phuket airports, complaining that Western-style democracy has allowed corruption to flourish. They demanded a new government with a parliament in which most lawmakers are appointed and only 30 per cent elected.

Since Tuesday, they have been camped outside the government's headquarters, known as Government House, turning its once manicured grounds into a muddy mess of tents, portable toilets and piles of garbage.

Rail workers also joined the protesters by halting service on dozens of trains in other parts of Thailand.

On Sunday, Thailand's parliament convened an emergency session at the request of the country's embattled prime minister, who acknowledged that his administration was unable to control spiralling anti-government protests.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's People's Power Party said it planned to present a compromise in parliament to appease the thousands of protesters occupying his official compound for a sixth day.

Protest leaders dismissed the parliamentary session as a "joke" and said they will not back down until Samak resigns, which he has repeatedly refused to do.

Few expected an immediate solution from the parliamentary session, which began Sunday afternoon with heated debate and was expected to last for hours.

Samak's six-party coalition government controls more than two-thirds of the seats in the 480-seat lower house.

Protest organizers accuse Samak's government of corruption and of serving as a proxy for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup. Thaksin recently fled to Britain to escape an array of corruption charges.

On Sunday, Sunton Raksarong, a PAD leader, threatened the closure of seven more airports in southern Thailand, many of which serve thousands of foreign tourists every day, if the government imposes emergency rule.

Phuket and Krabi airports would again be targets, Sunton said. The PAD would also block major roads to the south, Sunton said.