Thailand's state of emergency declared over

The state of emergency declared by the Thai government on September 1 has been ended by acting prime minister Somchai Wongsawat.

The emergency rule was enacted after a violent clash between supporters of the anti-government People's Alliance from Democracy (PAD) and a counter-protest group left one man dead. PAD has been holding protest rallies since May, and since August 23, tens of thousands of PAD demonstrators have occupied Government House, the main administrative center for the government's executive branch. The emergency rule had no effect on the protesters because Royal Thai Army officials vowed they would not use force against them.

PAD called for the removal of Samak SundaravejSamak Sundaravej, who was elected prime minister in December. Samak's People's Power Party was voted in as the majority party in Parliament in an election that was held more than a year after a military coup had removed the previous elected prime minster, Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin Shinawatra. PAD held that Samak and the People's Power Party are proxies for Thaksin, who has since gone into exile in the United Kingdom after facing a court battle on several corruption charges.

In a twist last week, the Constitution Court ordered Samak to step down as prime minister, saying he had violated the law by accepting money to appear on a television cooking show.

A Parliamentary vote to re-appoint Samak failed over the weekend when a quorum could not be achieved.


Acting PM Somchai, a former judge and permanent secretary to the Justice Ministry who was a deputy prime minister and minister of education, as well as a brother-in-law of Thaksin, is now among the "Three S's" who are tipped as front-runners for the permanent job. The others are Justice Minister Sompong Amornwiwat and Surapong Suebwonglee, who is finance minister. All are top officials in the People's Power Party.

PAD leaders have made it clear they will continue protesting as long as the People's Power Party remains in power.