CHRONOLOGY: 16 months of ups and downs in post-coup Thailand

(Reuters) - Thailand's parliament elected abrasive People Power Party (PPP) leader Samak Sundaravej prime minister on Monday as the country returns to a democratically-elected government after a 2006 coup.

Here are some of the political and economic milestones since the bloodless September 2006 putsch:

* September 9, 2006: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra leaves Thailand on a personal and official tour starting in Finland and including the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

* September 19: The military stages a coup as Thaksin prepares to address the United Nations. Thaksin, winner of two landslide elections and in power for five years, goes into exile in London.

* October 1: Former army commander-in-chief Surayud Chulanont is sworn in as interim prime minister. Thaksin steps down as Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party leader two days later.

* December 19: Stock exchange plunges 14.8 percent, the biggest one-day drop in its history, after the Bank of Thailand announces stringent capital controls to stem a rise of the baht.

* December 31: Bombs in Bangkok kill three people and wound more than 30 as crowds celebrate New Year's Eve. There have been no arrests.

* January 9, 2007: Foreign investors receive another shock as controversial changes to the Foreign Business Act are proposed.

* February 21: Economic adviser Somkid Jatusripitak, a former finance minister and architect of Thaksin's pro-business policies, resigns six days after his appointment outrages opponents of the old Thaksin government.

* February 28: Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula quits, blaming cabinet infighting. His successor, Chalongphob Sussangkarn, is appointed on March 7.

* March 26: Prosecutors charge Thaksin's wife, Potjaman, her brother and secretary with tax evasion, the first charges to emerge from an investigation into alleged corruption under Thaksin.

* March 29: Surayud announces that a general election will be held in December.

* May 30: The Constitutional Tribunal dissolves Thai Rak Thai for breaking election laws and bans Thaksin and 110 other leading members of the party from politics for five years.

* Aug 20: Voters endorse new military-drafted constitution, Thailand's 18th in 75 years of on-off democracy. Government declares victory and promises an election before the year's end.

* Oct 1: Coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin steps down as army chief to become a deputy prime minister in charge of internal security.

* Dec 5: Revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej calls for national unity as Thailand's 64 million people celebrate his 80th birthday.