Bangkok, Dec. 2 : A court in Thailand has dissolved the ruling People Power Party and banned Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from office for five years.

"As the court decided to dissolve the People Power Party, therefore the leader of the party and party executives must be banned from politics for five years," The Telegraph quoted Chat Chonlaworn, head of the nine-judge court panel, as saying.

"The court had no other option," he added.

Under Thailand’s Constitution, written by a military government last year, any political party in which a single executive member is convicted of election fraud must be entirely dissolved and all party executives banned from politics.

BANGKOK, Dec. 2 - Thailand's anti-government protest turned ugly Tuesday as a protester died in a grenade blast at Bangkok's domestic Don Muang airport, authorities said.

The grenade was fired into the inbound passenger terminal building of the airport, injuring 22 others, Bangkok Nation reported.

The facility, along with the international Suvarnabhumi airport, has been occupied by protesters led by People's Alliance for Democracy group demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's government, which is seen only as a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a military coup in 2006.

Wellington - New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced Tuesday that he had ordered an air force transport plane to fly to South-East Asia in preparation for a mercy mission to rescue New Zealanders stranded in Bangkok.

Key told a news conference that the Hercules C130 would go to Singapore or Malaysia on Wednesday and be put on standby to fly to the Thai military airbase of U-Tapao, about 150 kilometres east of Bangkok.

Bangkok - A bomb blast early Tuesday at a Bangkok airport occupied by anti-government demonstrators killed one person, protestors said.

The explosion at Don Mueang Airport set off panic in the occupied terminal building, where 22 people were wounded by flying glass caused by the device, the Thai newspaper Nation reported on its website.

The airport has been occupied, preventing flights, since Thursday by protestors demanding the ouster of the current government.

Bangkok - Thai shares lost 2.72 per cent of their value Monday on a combined whammy from heightening political instability and worldwide worries.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index ended at 390.92, down 10.92 points or 2.72 perr cent.

"A combination of growing political instability in Thailand and falls on regional markets was dragging us down today," said Phuwadol Larpudomsuk, an analyst at Asia Plus Securities.

Bangkok - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Monday downgraded its outlook on Thailand's sovereign credit from stable to "negative," in response to Bangkok's two airports being closed down by anti-government protestors for almost a week.

"The recent occupation of the two airports in Bangkok by anti-government protestors has increased the risks to sovereign creditworthiness," said Standard & Poor's Singapore-based credit analyst Kim Eng Tan.

Tan said the closure of the airports had caused serious disruption to the economy and "raises the possibility of widespread violence markedly."