Thai judges forced to flee after protesters swarm court

BANGKOK, Thailand - Hundreds of pro-government demonstrators swarmed around a court building today, forcing the relocation of judges who will rule on the fate of a Thai government beset by protests and a virtual shutdown of international air links.

Judges of the Constitutional Court had to scurry to a suburban courtroom where they are to decide whether Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and others in his party committed electoral fraud, a move that would see him banned from politics and his party dissolved.

Hours earlier, an explosive device was hurled into a crowd of antigovernment protesters at Bangkok's domestic airport, killing one person and wounding 22, said Surachet Sathitniramai of the Narenthorn Medical Center.

The court is expected to rule this week, and if the decision goes against Somchai, it could dampen protests by the People's Alliance for Democracy, which has been seeking Somchai's ouster through daily protests and the seizure of Bangkok's domestic and international airports.

It also could inflame pro-government supporters who have been gathering their strength in recent days and widen a dangerous rift in Thai society, further paralyzing government machinery and draining the economy.

Late yesterday, the explosive device fired from an elevated highway fell among hundreds of protesters, some of them asleep, inside Don Muang domestic airport, Surachet said. A protest leader, Somsak Kosaisuk, said the crowd was hit by a grenade from an M-79 launcher.

It was the third such attack in two days by unidentified assailants targeting the protesters. Seven people have been killed and scores injured in bomb attacks, clashes with police, and street battles between government opponents and supporters.

Neither the army, a key player in Thai politics, nor the country's much-revered king have offered Somchai the firm backing he needs to resolve the crisis. Many Thais hope the court ruling will help defuse it. Even if Somchai is removed and the protesters disperse, it is expected to take at least another week before the airports become operational again.

The airport closure has severed all commercial flights in and out of the capital, forcing thousands to cancel vacations during peak tourist season, and halted vital postal air services, preventing the arrival of medicines and other necessities.

Authorities say more than 300,000 travelers are stranded, with that number growing daily. The lucky ones are being flown out of a provincial airport with limited passenger capacity or are making their way overland to neighboring Malaysia.

Somchai has been working out of Chiang Mai since Wednesday, saying he wants to avoid confrontation with the protest alliance. Yesterday, he went to a Buddhist temple in the northern city and prayed with dozens of monks for the health of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who celebrates his 81st birthday Friday.

Asked about the crisis, he told reporters: "The authorities are working in line with due process, but we have to depend on police, soldiers and civil servants." He declined to elaborate.

The protesters accuse Somchai of being a puppet of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.