Ranongrak Suwanshawee of the Phua Phaen Din party, centre left, Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban, centre, and Sanan Kachornprasart of the Chart Thai Pattana party, centre right, along with other Thai members of parliament celebrate on Saturday. (David Longstreath/Associated Press)

Thailand's opposition Democrat Party says it has enough support in parliament to form a new government and put an end to several months of political chaos.

Party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban announced Saturday that his group has the backing of more than half of the 400 legislators in the lower house, which would allow it to form a government.

The announcement came three days after anti-government protesters ended an eight-day occupation of two airports in the Thai capital.

Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport officially reopened Friday following the siege, which left more than 300,000 travellers stranded.

Officials have warned it could be a month before airport traffic returns to normal.

An activist group, the People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, has spearheaded mass demonstrations against several recent governments led by exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies.

The PAD contends that the administration of Somchai Wongsawat, who resigned as PM earlier this week, is a proxy for Thaksin, who was removed from office in a military coup in 2006 amid accusations of corruption and abuse of power. Thaksin remains in exile, but his whereabouts are unknown.

Some Democrat Party leaders have participated in the PAD, whose platform until recently included a pledge to largely eliminate representative democracy in Thailand in favour of an appointed parliament.

The party could have its chance soon. On Tuesday, the country's Constitutional Court found Somchai's People's Power Party and two of its coalition partners, the Machima Thipatai party and the Chart Thai party, guilty of committing fraud in the December 2007 elections that brought them to power.

The court ordered the parties dissolved and barred 60 party executives, including Somchai and 24 other legislators, from politics for five years.

Legislators have been scrambling to assemble a new coalition since then.

With files from the Associated Press