Traditional floating market near Bangkok, Thailand.jpg

A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the conflict. Thailand is currently facing separatist violence in its southern ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces.

In a victory for anti-government demonstrators, a Thai appeals court dropped charges of treason against nine protest leaders, calling evidence against them too "vague."

The court upheld a charge of inciting unrest relating to the thousands of demonstrators who have barricaded themselves into the compound of the prime minister's office for the last six weeks.

In a separate ruling, a criminal court on Thursday allowed bail for the top leader of the protest, Chamlong Srimuang, 73, a former army general who was arrested Sunday. He arrived at the protest site Thursday to loud cheers.

In a bizarre twist to the standoff with the government, which is showing no signs of abating, the other protest leaders said they would turn themselves in to the police, but would request bail and continue their protests once, and if, they are released.

Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is temporarily operating out of the V.I.P. lounge of Bangkok's old international airport.

The well-provisioned protesters, many of them from Thailand's middle class, have largely retreated to the prime minister's compound after having surrounded Parliament on Tuesday, trapping hundreds of government lawmakers inside.

The protesters, who are led by an organization that calls itself the People's Alliance for Democracy, are campaigning for the government to step down because of links to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in September 2006. The movement's leaders have also called for changes to Thailand's electoral system, reducing the weighting of votes from rural and lesser-educated Thais.

The protests have been largely confined to a single neighborhood in Bangkok; other areas in the capital have remained peaceful.