Latest: Samak decides to opt out of the PM race. But protestors still want the government to go.

PARLIAMENT went into session on Friday but a count of numbers showed there were too few MPs present to vote for a new Prime Minister.

The vote on a new PM was adjourned until 9.30am Wednesday. Given the importance of the vote, today's scenes were farcical.

A count of heads in Parliament about 9.50pm produced 161 MPs present, yet a minimum of 235 are required to legitimise any vote.

The Speaker, Chai Chidchob, questioned whether everyone had used their computer card to enter the House system and record their presence.

There are 470 MPs.

No members of the Chart Thai Party, a significant coalition party, appeared this morning, indicating widespread dissent about who should be the new Prime Minister.

Samak Sundaravej, who heads the ruling People Power party, has nominated for the PM's position again in defiance of his disqualification earlier this week by the Constitutional Court.

He was ousted when the court ruled that the former celebrity chef had contravened the Constitution by making two paid appearances on a tv cooking show.

So the long-standing conflict between anti-government protestors and the existing administration is set to continue.

As well as interfering with and delaying the normal process of administration and trade, the conflict is now cutting through flesh towards the muscle of Thailand's tourism industry.

The President of the Thai Tourism Services Association, Charoen Wang-ananont, was reported today as saying that the number of foreign tourists has fallen by 70 per cent and the number of local tourists by 60 per cent.

Resort room occupancy has dropped by 30-40 per cent, he says.

Those figures are alarming because September and October usually provide a bookings base for the November-April high season on Phuket and elsewhere in Thailand.

Every week that the conflict continues, the prospects of a high season that delivers tourism numbers and revenue that are more like a low season become greater.

A few more weeks of conflict and Phuket could face the prospect of seriously reduced tourism right through to the 2009-2010 high season, a heavy price to pay for the Thai version of democracy in slow motion.

On Phuket, local protestors have abandoned their occupation of the grounds of Provincial Hall and moved back to the public park at Saphan Hin.

A Vote For PM With Tourism In The Balance
There is no escaping the importance of Friday's vote for a new PM, on Phuket and elsewhere in Thailand. Tourists are avoiding the country and will continue to do so now until certainty returns.
A Vote For PM With Tourism In The Balance

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: The protest at the airport is over. 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 disqualifies Samak from holding the office of Prime Minister over paid appearances on a TV cooking show.

September 12: The Vote for PM.

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