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TIMELINE-Thailand's political crisis
02 Dec 2008 13:10:39 GMT
 Source: Reuters
Dec 2 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat was banned from politics for five years and his party disbanded on Tuesday, plunging Thailand deeper into crisis, although anti-government protesters said they would end a blockade of Bangkok's airports. [ID:nSP131986]

Here is a timeline of the recent political turmoil.

Sept. 2005 - Sondhi Limthongkul, a former business associate of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, starts the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) street campaign to oust Thaksin.

April 2, 2006 - Thaksin wins a snap election called to silence Sondhi. Opposition boycotts poll, court later nullifies result.

Sept. 19 - Military stages a coup while Thaksin is at the United Nations in New York. He flies into exile in London.

Oct. 1 - Former army commander-in-chief Surayud Chulanont is sworn in as interim prime minister.

March 26, 2007 - Thaksin's wife, Potjaman, her brother and secretary are charged with tax evasion.

May 30 - Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party is dissolved for breaking election laws. He and 110 senior party members are banned from politics for five years.

Aug. 20 - Voters endorse a new, military-drafted constitution, the 18th in 75 years of on-off democracy.

Dec. 23 - The pro-Thaksin People Power Party (PPP) falls just short of outright majority in a general election.

Jan. 28, 2008 - PPP leader Samak Sundaravej is elected prime minister.

Feb. 28 - Thaksin returns to Bangkok after 18 months in exile.

May 25 - PAD resumes street protests to overthrow what it says is a "Thaksin puppet government".

July 31 - Potjaman gets a three-year jail term for tax fraud. Freed on bail, she and Thaksin fly to Beijing for Olympics opening ceremony on Aug. 8.

Aug. 11 - Thaksin and wife skip bail and flee to London.

Aug. 26 - Thousands of PAD protesters storm the state broadcaster NBT and Samak's official compound in a bid to unseat his government.

Sept. 2 - Samak declares a state of emergency in Bangkok after one person is killed and 45 hurt in clashes.

Sept. 9 - The Constitutional Court finds Samak guilty of violating constitution by hosting TV cooking shows while in office and he has to quit.

Sept. 17 - Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law, is elected prime minister by parliament.

Oct. 7 - Deadly riots kill two people and injure more than 400 in Bangkok in worst street violence in 16 years.

Oct. 21 - The Supreme Court sentences Thaksin to two years in jail in absentia for breaking a conflict-of-interest law.

Nov. 1 - Thaksin urges Thais to bring him home in a phone address to a huge pro-government rally in Bangkok.

Nov. 8 - Britain revokes visas for Thaksin and his wife while they are out of the country.

Nov. 16 - Thaksin announces he and Potjaman have divorced.

Nov. 20 - A grenade attack on PAD protesters occupying the prime minister's offices kills one person and wounds 23.

Nov. 25 - PAD protesters storm Bangkok's main airport, the Suvarnabhumi international airport, halting all flights. Up to 250,000 foreign tourists are eventually stranded.

Nov. 26 - Somchai returns from an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru and rejects his army chief's call to quit in the face of anti-government protests. The next day he declares a state of emergency at the two besieged airports.

Nov. 28 - Somchai fires his national police chief for mishandling the airport occupations.

Dec. 2 - The Constitutional Court disbands the PPP and bans Somchai from politics for five years. First deputy prime minister Chavarat Charnvirakul is to take over as interim PM.

-- The PAD protesters say after the ruling that they will end their blockade of Bangkok's two airports on Dec. 3. (Writing by Bangkok bureau, Gillian Murdoch and David Cutler, Singapore & London Editorial Reference Units; Editing by Alan Raybould)


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A man gestures from the window of a bus in Bangkok November 21, 2008. Thailand's public sector unions will begin a nationwide strike on Tuesday unless the government quits, union leaders ...


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Last updated:Tue Dec 2 13:13:40 2008