BANGKOK - THAILAND'S ruling coalition will continue to enjoy a comfortable majority in parliament despite three of its six parties having some MPs barred from politics by the courts on Tuesday.

The court ruling disbanded the three parties and barred 31 of their leaders from politics, but this does not mean a general election needs to be held.

BANGKOK - THAILAND'S Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest movement will end its blockade of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports on Wednesday, its leader, Sondhi Limthongkul, said on Tuesday.

Mr Sondhi told a news conference the PAD would start pulling out at 10am (11am Singapore time). He also called a conditional halt to the PAD's political rallies.

BANGKOK - A CARGO plane operated by K-Mile Air left Bangkok's besieged Suvarnabhumi airport on Tuesday, the first to take off from the terminal since anti-government protesters shut it down a week ago, a cargo sector official said.