Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Anti-government protesters agreed to end an eight-day siege of Bangkok’s main airport after Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat was forced from office by a court, though flights may not resume for as long as two weeks.

“We have gained our victory already,” Sondhi Limthongkul, leader of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, said at a press conference today in Bangkok. “If there is something wrong, we will mobilize people and stage another protest.”

The group’s six-month battle against the elected government culminated in the seizure of Bangkok’s two airports, paralyzing Thailand’s tourism industry. Suvarnabhumi airport may remain closed until at least Dec. 16, the aviation authority said today. About 750 flights a day haven’t been able to get in or out of the airport, Asia’s fourth busiest.

Reopening Suvarnabhumi “will take at least a week based on the assumption that there’s no damage,” Serirat Prasutanond, acting president for Airports of Thailand Pcl, the operator, said today by phone. “If there’s some damage, we really can’t estimate how long it will take.”

More than 250,000 people remain trapped in Thailand, according to Andrew J. Wood, president of Skal International Bangkok, a travel industry group. Carriers including Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and Singapore Airlines Ltd. are operating flights from the U-Tapao military airfield east of Bangkok to help clear the backlog.

Assessing the Damage

More than half of the 88 aircraft that were stranded at Suvarnabhumi have departed, though they weren’t allowed to carry passengers, said Serirat, who’s also the airport’s general manager. Inspectors will begin assessing the damage as early as tomorrow, he told the Channel 9 television network in a separate interview.

“We need to test run all systems, including flight displays and conveyor belts,” Serirat said in a phone interview from Bangkok. “We need to test again and again to make sure it won’t fail once we reopen. It’s like opening a new airport. When we open the airport, the testing process takes a year. But we will try to speed up this time.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at suttinee1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 2, 2008 07:32 EST