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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Thai airport protests called off | Thai airport protests called off |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Thai anti-government protesters have agreed to end their occupation of Bangkok's airports, allowing thousands of stranded tourists to leave. | Thai anti-government protesters have agreed to end their occupation of Bangkok's airports, allowing thousands of stranded tourists to leave. |
| Passenger flights from the main international airport are to resume on 4 December, say correspondents. | Passenger flights from the main international airport are to resume on 4 December, say correspondents. |
| Protests had shut down Thailand's two main airports for more than a week. | Protests had shut down Thailand's two main airports for more than a week. |
| The deal follows a court ruling that forced Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to step down over election fraud and disbanded his governing party. | The deal follows a court ruling that forced Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to step down over election fraud and disbanded his governing party. |
| The occupation had closed Suvarnabhumi international airport and the smaller domestic Don Mueang airport, stranding tens of thousands of foreign tourists and forcing them to scramble for alternative ways home. | |
| Thailand's important tourism industry was crippled and exports of everything from electronics to fresh food were either stopped or had to be switched to ships or transported to Malaysia to be flown out. | |
| Cargo flights have already resumed and passenger flights are expected to begin again on 4 December, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville at Suvarnabhumi airport. | |
| Deep splits | |
| The leaders of the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) decided to end all their protests after the ruling by Thailand's constitutional court. | |
| The court ordered Mr Somchai's governing People Power Party (PPP) and two of its coalition partners to disband. The parties' leaders were also barred from politics for five years. | |
| The nine-judge panel found the People Power Party (PPP), the Machima Thipatai party and the Chart Thai party guilty of vote-buying in the last general election, in 2007. | |
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| A loud cheer went up at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport as protesters there heard the news | |
| Dozens of the PPP's executive members, including Mr Somchai, were also found guilty of personal involvement. | Dozens of the PPP's executive members, including Mr Somchai, were also found guilty of personal involvement. |
| Judge Chat said that he hoped the ruling would "set a political standard". | Judge Chat said that he hoped the ruling would "set a political standard". |
| The ruling came after months of PAD-led protests that have crippled the political process in Thailand. | |
| They had vowed to continue their protests until the entire government stepped down. | They had vowed to continue their protests until the entire government stepped down. |
| They accused Mr Somchai's administration of being corrupt and hostile to the much-revered monarchy, and too close to ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. | They accused Mr Somchai's administration of being corrupt and hostile to the much-revered monarchy, and too close to ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. |
| The protests had forced a political crisis, revealing deep splits between the PAD - a loose alliance of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class - and government supporters, who draw their strength from the rural north and north-east of Thailand. | The protests had forced a political crisis, revealing deep splits between the PAD - a loose alliance of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class - and government supporters, who draw their strength from the rural north and north-east of Thailand. |