Bangkok gets back to business after protests

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CHINA: Workers assembling solar panels by hand on the factory floor of Chinese company Suntech in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi. The success of Chinese companies like Suntech, the world's biggest producer of solar panels has become a trade issue as Ame

BANGKOK, May 24 (AFP): Thailand's capital whirred back into life Monday after last week's deadly unrest, as businesses and schools reopened and citizens returned to streets cleared of debris left by arson and looting.
Thoroughfares which for six weeks had been occupied by 'Red Shirts' anti-government protesters, who established a fortified encampment in the top shopping district, were finally open to traffic.
Office workers returned to their jobs, children went to school and retailers rolled back shutters after the worst civil unrest in recent memory which since mid-March has left 88 dead and nearly 1,900 injured. The Reds, who are campaigning for fresh elections to replace a government they condemn as illegitimate, disbanded last Wednesday in the face of a military offensive that forced their leaders to surrender.
Enraged militants within the movement went on a rampage of looting and arson that left 36 major buildings ablaze including the stock exchange and Thailand's biggest mall, which now stands in ruins.
Downtown Bangkok was scrubbed clean over the weekend in a frenzied operation involving thousands of city workers wielding brooms and power houses, as well as enthusiastic volunteers including foreigners.
The embassies of Australia and Japan, located near the disbanded Reds encampment, reopened while the United States said it would resume full services at its mission on Tuesday.
"It's very much back to normal, we're trying to get things back together this week," said Kim Clarke, press officer for the British embassy.
"The Thai economy has repeatedly experienced crisis and managed to revive, but whether it can achieve that this time or not depends on our people," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters.