Update: Parilament convened this morning but failed to raise a quorum, the minimum number of MPs required to legitimise a vote.
THE STAKES in the political standoff have been raised considerably. If the latest figures can be believed, the immediate future of tourism in Thailand is now at risk.
As MPs prepare to vote for a Prime Minister on Friday, the country's hospitality industry is being gambled on the outcome.
According to the Thai Tourism Services Association, the uncertainty is turning away overseas visitors from Thailand in alarming numbers.
If MPs re-elect Samak Sundaravej as Prime Minister on Friday, in defiance of his disqualification earlier this week by the Constitutional Court, strong mass protests can be anticipated by anti-government demonstrators.
At the very least, those protests are likely to bring thousands of students onto the streets in Phuket, and throughout the country.
A single protest-related death on the streets of Bangkok is one too many. Yet serious violence is now being committed against the tourism industry.
In 2006, a coup was a high-risk option, but quick and painless.
Now, slowly but surely, the prolonged and mostly peaceful confrontation of 2008 appears to be ripping the heart from the country's tourist trade.
Months of uncertainty are turning visitors away in droves, with Phuket's high season now at stake.
A ''state of emergency'' worries everyone. Along with many countries, South Korea has issued a travel warning suggesting that its tourists find some other destination.
The result: Budget carrier SkyStar Airways has cancelled its six weekly Phuket-Incheon flights and two Phuket-Busan weekly flights, until September 21 at the least.
The figures everywhere are not looking good.
To have an extended national political argument free from serious physical conflict is a positive.
But the nervous tension created over the past four months is now having a cumulative effect.
When will it end? What will be the outcome? That's what would-be visitors are now asking, in greater numbers than before.
Many of them are deciding not to wait. They are holidaying at home or going somewhere other than Thailand instead.
Friday is likely to be a significant day for the country, and for the tourism industry. The hope is that it will produce a step towards a political resolution.
Realistically, the conflict is likely to continue, and perhaps even grow worse.
There is little that the people in the tourism industry can do except hope that commonsense prevails, and soon.
Phuket Protest: Students Plan 10,000 Marchers
As many as 10,000 students are expected to join a huge Phuket protest march if disqualified PM Samak is reelected to the post by fellow MPs. It would be one of the biggest rallies ever on Phuket.
Phuket Protest: Students Plan 10,000 Marchers
Key Events: Protests and Phuket
December 23: Samak leads the People Power party (PPP) to election victory.
February 6: Samak unveils a cabinet made up of members of a six-party coalition which holds nearly two-thirds of parliamentary seats.
February 28: Former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, in self-imposed exile for 17 months, gets hero's welcome from supporters as he returns to Thailand and goes straight to court, where he is released on bail on corruption charges.
May 25: The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a collection of anti-government groups, launches street protests calling for Samak to resign for seeking constitutional amendments they believe are aimed at helping Thaksin.
July 8-10: Court decisions force out of office three senior government officials and Yongyut Tiyapairat, the house speaker and PPP deputy leader.
July 15: A military standoff breaks out near a disputed temple on the Thai-Cambodia border, with the PAD accusing Samak of relinquishing Thai territory to help Thaksin with a business deal in the neighbouring country.
July 31: Thaksin's wife, Pojaman, is convicted of tax evasion and released on bail.
August 11: Thaksin and his wife go into exile in Britain, claiming they will not get a fair trial on the corruption charges mounting against them.
August 26: At least 35,000 PAD-led protesters raid a TV station, surround three ministries and break into Bangkok's main government compound in what they say is their ''final war'' against the government.
August 29: Scuffles break out between police and PAD supporters still laying siege to Government House. Protests spread. Hundreds of PAD protestors assemble around Phuket International Airport. Some reach the tarmac. Flights stopped at 3.50pm
August 30: Stranded passengers arrive at airport in hope of flights resumption. Airport General Manager Wing Commander Wicha Nurnlop says that in some ways, the airport blockade is ''worse than the 2004 tsunami.''
September 1: About 11am the announcement comes: the protest at the airport is over, and flights are to resume later in the day. About 3.50pm a Thai Airways Boeing 777 from Bangkok touches down, first of the airlift in, and an exodus out.
September 2: Overnight clashes leave one dead and dozens injured in Bangkok so Samak declares a state of emergency in the capital, allowing the army to move in to help restore order. Thai Election Commission finds the PPP guilty of buying votes and recommends the party be disbanded.
September 3: Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag resigns. Army chief Anupong Paochinda tells Samak that despite state of emergency he will not use force to disperse anti-government protesters from Government House. Phuket resort occupancy rates slump to 30 percent and recovery could take two years.
September 4: Samak says in a radio and television speech that he will not resign. Cabinet later suggests a national referendum as a solution to the impasse.
September 9: Constitutional Court bans Samak from holding the office of Prime Minister over paid appearances on a TV cooking show.
September 12: Vote for PM.
Look for
ANALYSIS
THE STAKES in the political standoff have been raised considerably. If the latest figures can be believed, the immediate future of tourism in Thailand is now at risk.
As MPs prepare to vote for a Prime Minister on Friday, the country's hospitality industry is being gambled on the outcome.
According to the Thai Tourism Services Association, the uncertainty is turning away overseas visitors from Thailand in alarming numbers.
If MPs re-elect Samak Sundaravej as Prime Minister on Friday, in defiance of his disqualification earlier this week by the Constitutional Court, strong mass protests can be anticipated by anti-government demonstrators.
At the very least, those protests are likely to bring thousands of students onto the streets in Phuket, and throughout the country.
A single protest-related death on the streets of Bangkok is one too many. Yet serious violence is now being committed against the tourism industry.
In 2006, a coup was a high-risk option, but quick and painless.
Now, slowly but surely, the prolonged and mostly peaceful confrontation of 2008 appears to be ripping the heart from the country's tourist trade.
Months of uncertainty are turning visitors away in droves, with Phuket's high season now at stake.
A ''state of emergency'' worries everyone. Along with many countries, South Korea has issued a travel warning suggesting that its tourists find some other destination.
The result: Budget carrier SkyStar Airways has cancelled its six weekly Phuket-Incheon flights and two Phuket-Busan weekly flights, until September 21 at the least.
The figures everywhere are not looking good.
To have an extended national political argument free from serious physical conflict is a positive.
But the nervous tension created over the past four months is now having a cumulative effect.
When will it end? What will be the outcome? That's what would-be visitors are now asking, in greater numbers than before.
Many of them are deciding not to wait. They are holidaying at home or going somewhere other than Thailand instead.
Friday is likely to be a significant day for the country, and for the tourism industry. The hope is that it will produce a step towards a political resolution.
Realistically, the conflict is likely to continue, and perhaps even grow worse.
There is little that the people in the tourism industry can do except hope that commonsense prevails, and soon.
Phuket Protest: Students Plan 10,000 Marchers
As many as 10,000 students are expected to join a huge Phuket protest march if disqualified PM Samak is reelected to the post by fellow MPs. It would be one of the biggest rallies ever on Phuket.
Phuket Protest: Students Plan 10,000 Marchers
Key Events: Protests and Phuket
December 23: Samak leads the People Power party (PPP) to election victory.
February 6: Samak unveils a cabinet made up of members of a six-party coalition which holds nearly two-thirds of parliamentary seats.
February 28: Former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, in self-imposed exile for 17 months, gets hero's welcome from supporters as he returns to Thailand and goes straight to court, where he is released on bail on corruption charges.
May 25: The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a collection of anti-government groups, launches street protests calling for Samak to resign for seeking constitutional amendments they believe are aimed at helping Thaksin.
July 8-10: Court decisions force out of office three senior government officials and Yongyut Tiyapairat, the house speaker and PPP deputy leader.
July 15: A military standoff breaks out near a disputed temple on the Thai-Cambodia border, with the PAD accusing Samak of relinquishing Thai territory to help Thaksin with a business deal in the neighbouring country.
July 31: Thaksin's wife, Pojaman, is convicted of tax evasion and released on bail.
August 11: Thaksin and his wife go into exile in Britain, claiming they will not get a fair trial on the corruption charges mounting against them.
August 26: At least 35,000 PAD-led protesters raid a TV station, surround three ministries and break into Bangkok's main government compound in what they say is their ''final war'' against the government.
August 29: Scuffles break out between police and PAD supporters still laying siege to Government House. Protests spread. Hundreds of PAD protestors assemble around Phuket International Airport. Some reach the tarmac. Flights stopped at 3.50pm
August 30: Stranded passengers arrive at airport in hope of flights resumption. Airport General Manager Wing Commander Wicha Nurnlop says that in some ways, the airport blockade is ''worse than the 2004 tsunami.''
September 1: About 11am the announcement comes: the protest at the airport is over, and flights are to resume later in the day. About 3.50pm a Thai Airways Boeing 777 from Bangkok touches down, first of the airlift in, and an exodus out.
September 2: Overnight clashes leave one dead and dozens injured in Bangkok so Samak declares a state of emergency in the capital, allowing the army to move in to help restore order. Thai Election Commission finds the PPP guilty of buying votes and recommends the party be disbanded.
September 3: Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag resigns. Army chief Anupong Paochinda tells Samak that despite state of emergency he will not use force to disperse anti-government protesters from Government House. Phuket resort occupancy rates slump to 30 percent and recovery could take two years.
September 4: Samak says in a radio and television speech that he will not resign. Cabinet later suggests a national referendum as a solution to the impasse.
September 9: Constitutional Court bans Samak from holding the office of Prime Minister over paid appearances on a TV cooking show.
September 12: Vote for PM.
Look for
TRENDS
every day, Monday to Friday, at Phuketwan. It's essential reading. To tell us your news, email bigislandmedia@gmail.com or telephone 081 6513489. 
