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  This should bode well for Thai politics and bring back stability after the chaos caused by street protests over the past few years. The PAD, or yellow shirts, who are against ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra and mostly royalist, were the predecessors of the more recent red-shirt movement.

The yellow shirts' pinnacle was the severely damaging closure of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in November, forcing then-prime minister Somchai Wongswat to step down.

Their move ushered in the current Democrat-led government early this year, and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva ended up facing much the same protests as his predecessor, resulting in the abrupt cancellation of the Asean Summit in Pattaya last month as well as streets riots in Bangkok.

Now it's time for the yellow shirts, whose leaders include Sondhi Limthongkul and Chamlong Srimuang, to enter the political arena properly, rather than pursuing their political causes outside the parliamentary system.

Tomorrow some core PAD leaders will be meeting, and it's highly likely that they will end up creating a new party to prepare for the next general election.

Prof Surat Horachai of Chulalongkorn University recently drew the conclusion in the UOB Kay Hian report that the worst of Thailand's street protests might be over because different political groups were moving into the parliamentary system.

Surat was also optimistic that the Democrat-led coalition government would be able to survive another 12 to 18 months before a new general election was called.

As for the opposition, he suggested that the dissolution of the People Power Party last year had led to the creation of the Pheu Thai party, which was weak and did not have a proper leader yet even though it was already five months into its role as the government's rival.

As a result, the party has not done much as far as scrutinising the government is concerned, he said.

In addition, Surat noted that the credibility of the pro-Thaksin red shirts had eroded since the Songkran riots and by storming the Asean Summit last April they had lost a lot of goodwill overseas as the previously sympathetic foreign press turned against them.

In addition, the red shirts also lost some legitimacy locally when they held communities hostage by blocking Bangkok roads with LPG tanks during the Songkran riots.

Academics, who previously supported the red shirts' cause for establishment reforms, are also staying away because they don't agree with the violent tactics used during the riots. There is also speculation about this group forming their own political party to pursue their causes without any links to Thaksin.

Hence more elements of Thai politics are slowly returning to the proper venue: Parliament

With regard to charter amendments, Surat expects some form of compromise to be reached, because articles dealing with the dissolution of political parties will likely be amended.

In addition, amnesty may be given to executives of banned political parties, including former executives of Thai Rak Thai and the People Power Party.

While the yellow shirts may protest against the amendment of the Constitution, it's unlikely that there will be a prolonged confrontation as some of their key figures are preparing to form the new party.