Thaksin's brother-in-law appointed Thai prime minister

Somchai, a 61-year-old bureaucrat who is married to Thaksin's sister, appealed for national unity in a news conference shortly after the vote.

He declined to answer a question about his infamous relative, the former Manchester City football club owner who was deposed in a 2006 coup and is now in exile in London.

Somchai said: "It is now time for Thailand to unite, to reconcile and to solve the conflict. It is not unusual to be angry but we have to work together to make Thailand peaceful again."

Somchai won a firm majority of votes in the lower house of parliament, backed by the governing six-party coalition. Members of parliament voted 298-163, with five abstentions.

After the final tally, Somchai walked over to opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva to shake hands.

The arrival of a new prime minister marked a small step forward in Thailand's tumultuous political crisis, but not one likely to defuse it.

The vote, which still needs formal approval by Thailand's king, drew immediate objection from anti-government protesters who have occupied the prime minister's compound for more than three weeks.

Somsak Kosaisuk, a protest leader, said to loud cheers from protesters camped on the grounds of Government House that Somchai "might have a gentlemanly nature, a soft-spoken style and he might have a better reputation than everyone else (in the ruling party), but blood is thicker than water".

Somsak vowed to continue the sit-in until the "remnants of Thaksin's regime are gone".

Political analysts said there was no end in sight to the confrontation.

Thitinan Pongsidhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, said as he listed some of the problems and issues ahead: "There is no clear resolution in the days and weeks ahead of the Thai political crisis.

"The seat of government is being occupied illegally by protesters in the streets, the government has moved into the old airport, the prime minister has changed, it will change again.

"This is going to be a protracted affair that is going to last many months."

Somchai was education minister and became the acting prime minister after Samak Sundaravej was forced from office last Tuesday when a court found him guilty of violating the constitution by accepting pay for hosting TV cooking shows.

Urbane and well-spoken, Somchai has the kind of bureaucratic experience favoured by Thailand's ruling class, having served more than 20 years as a judge before entering government.

But he comes with the political baggage of being a brother-in-law of Thaksin, who fled the country with his wife to escape corruption charges. Thaksin's political legacy is a prime target of anti-government protesters.

Thaksin, a telecommunications billionaire, is accused of buying his way into power and then enriching himself at the country's expense. His ousting came after months of demonstrations by the People's Alliance for Democracy, which then took aim at Samak, whom they accused of being Thaksin's proxy.

The alliance and tens of thousands of its supporters stormed Government House on August 26 with the goal of kicking Samak out of office.

Their goals have since shifted, however. They now say that any member of the ruling People's Power Party, which is full of Thaksin allies, is unacceptable as prime minister.

The People's Power Party and its governing coalition hold 306 of the lower house's 480 seats.