THAILAND'S Electoral Commission has ordered the ruling Democrat Party to dissolve because of polling frauds, television news services are reporting.

The document has to be sent to the Constitutional Court for ratification. It was, according to reports, a 4-1 majority decision.

Among the 22 people listed as no longer able to continue in politics for five years were Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva and well-known Phuket personality Anchalee Vanich Tephabutra, a former Phuket Provincial Adminitrative Organisation chief officer who is now the Deputy Secretary of the Prime Minister's Department.

Ratification of the ruling could lead to the current government being forced to stand down almost immediately and reform, and a new national election. It is not clear who would govern in the interim.

While the reaction of the red protesters now occupying Bangkok has yet to be gauged, such a decision is likely to be viewed as a victory that would satisfy their demands.

Phuket red leader Sunthorn Toema told Phuketwan this evening, with Thailand's New Year Songkran Festival beginning tomorrow, that provincial red leaders from southern Thailand had discussed how they might react to the verdict.

He said they had agreed at a brief meeting to wait and continue their Bangkok protest until the Constitutional Court makes its decision known.

However, he said their views had yet to be taken to a full meeting of the red leaders, where all kinds of options could be considered.

A ruling by the Constitutional Court would bar the Democrats - and probably some key members of the Government - from being involved in politics for five years. The Democrat Party currently leads a coalition government and has done since 2008, with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva as its head.

It was a similar ruling by the Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court in 2008 that led to the disbandment of the ''red'' party that reformed after the Thai Rak Thai Party of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra was also ruled to be at guilty of electoral deception.

At the time of the ruling, the yellow shirt demonstrators, supporters of the democrats, were occupying Suvarnabhum International Airport in Bangkok.

The yellow protesters saw the decision as a victory and abandoned their occupation almost immediately.

Today's unexpected verdict of the Constitutional Court probably reshapes the nature of Thailand's politics as dramatically as any airport invasion of Bangkok blockade.

What follows, though, could be even greater uncertainty. There is no way of knowing who might be governing Thailand next.

The country was once notorious for military coups, but the modern trend has been - with one exception, the downfall of fugitive PM Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 - to allow the voters to decide.

PM Abhisit today accused terrorists of being involved in the red protests. The army moved in on Saturday night in Bangkok but were beaten back by the reds, with 21 deaths and more than 800 wounded.

Stock market values dipped today and neighboring countries have upgraded travel alerts, leaving Thailand's tourism industry poised for a slump, despite strong airport arrival figures for March.