A PHUKET protest leader said today that the airport blockades will continue despite an important court ruling against the government.

Natjarong Aakpemsub, leader of Phuket Watch, told Phuketwan there would be no let-up until it was clear that Thailand was being run by people who were not the successors of disgraced former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Another protest leader, who goes by the single name of Arparat, said 800 People's Alliance for Democracy supporters from Phuket were now in Bangkok as part of ''the final showdown.''

Conflicting reports from other sources within the PAD said that the airports would reopen, with the AFP news agency reporting that protest leaders and airport officials had reached agreement on a reopening timetable.

Airport officials have stressed it could take up to a week to reopen.

AIRLINES from around the world have been attempting to establish escape routes for tourists from Phuket, with a two-hour airport computer crash this afternoon adding to the mayhem.

And with the Constitutional Court deciding to dissolve the ruling People Power Party and two of its coalition parties and ban Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from politics for election fraud, the political crisis may continue even if flights resume.

Phuket airport's air traffic returned this week as several airlines expanded or added new flights to get trapped tourists home.

The airport suffered a steep drop in domestic flights last week with the closure by anti-government protesters of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in Bangkok.

The Bangkok airports would not be ready to accept passengers for a week, one airport official was quoted as saying.

Today 68 flights are scheduled in and out of Phuket International Airport, with the computer system was restored after two hours.

Here are some of the latest announcements by major airlines:

SAS Scandinavian Airlines announced it would operate three flights connecting Phuket and Scandinavia, adding that it cancelled operations at U-Tapao because the Vietnam-era military airport had been stretched beyond its capacity. The airline has arranged transport for the 885km journey overland from Bangkok to Phuket for passengers, who will fly out on three flights today. A scheduled Bangkok-Stockholm flight will leave from Phuket at 2.25pm, while an extra flight, also to Stockholm, departed at 8.30 this morning. A flight to Copenhagen will leave just after midnight tonight.

Thai Airways says on its website that it will operate 34 special inbound and outbound flights from Thailand for passengers with confirmed reservations, with a flight for Frankfurt and one for Narita going out of Phuket today. An inbound flight from Frankfurt is also scheduled. Flight information and reservations available at 02 356 1111.

Dragonair ran a special flight from Phuket to Hong Kong yesterday, and has doubled the capacity of its regular daily flights connecting the islands by using an A330 instead of an A320, the airline announced, though a sign posted at its Phuket airport office yesterday said flights were full until December 10.

AirAsia posted an update on its website about added flights from today until December 4. It has set up one extra daily return flight from Phuket to Singapore, another to Kuala Lumpur, and a domestic flight connecting Phuket and U-Tapao airport. AirAsia Phuket Sales Counter Tel: 076 328 601-2.

SilkAir has added 13 additional flights between Singapore and Phuket starting today until Sunday (December 7), operated by Airbus A320 and A319 aircraft. This is in addition to the four or five regularly-scheduled daily flights. Each day will have two extra flights, except Sunday, which will have three additional flights. Since the airport closures, SilkAir has been accepting Singapore Airlines tickets between Bangkok-Singapore for travel on Phuket-Singapore or Chiang Mai-Singapore, without additional charges, the airline says. Tel: 02 353 6000, 076 304018/19/20 (24 hours).

Bangkok Airways added several domestic and international flights today. All Bangkok Airways flights to and from Phuket are domestic routes, as follows: four Samui-Phuket flights, four Phuket-Samui flights, one from U-Tapao to Phuket and one Phuket-U-Tapao. Call 1771 or 0-2265-8777 for reservations.

Both Bangkok airports remain occupied by thousands of protesters, causing an estimated 350,000 tourists to be stranded in Thailand.

As anger and frustration mount among foreign visitors and their governments, protesters allowed airlines to fly some trapped planes out of Suvarnabhumi yesterday. But they were empty.

PAD protesters cheered today's court verdict.