Thai protest ends,leaders surrender...

After a day of rioting in which smoke rose from burning barricades around the city the "red shirt" movement ended with a whimper.Protest leaders took to the stage around noon to ask their followers to leave."We have to stop because we need to look after the lives of our supporters,"said Jatuporn Prompan.Five of the leaders then surrendered to the police to face charges of violating a state of emergency, which prohibits gatherings of more than five people. Other vowed to continue their opposition to the government but did not say by what means.The peaceful end to the protests is a great relief for the government of the prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, after the fiasco of the last few days.In a day of violence on Monday only two people were reported killed, both victims of a clash between opposing groups of civilians.Meanwhile over 120 people were wounded in Bangkok, most in clashes between protesters and the army.
Soldiers were also active suppressing anti-government protests in three other provinces on Monday.Throughout the night "psyops" units of the army blasted the remaining protesters at Government House with loud speaker messages, urging them to surrender.Tuesday morning dawned amid great tension with only around 2,000 "red shirt" protesters still camped out at the site and all access blocked by thousands of soldiers with rifles and armoured vehicles.Once again, the more aggressive among the protesters set fire to busses and even a cylinder of cooking gas which fizzed and belched balls of flame, in an attempt to create obstacles for the advancing troops.Inside the protest area the protesters were of all ages, including a high proportion of women, who sang songs to keep their spirits up.Many observers feared a violent climax.Finally the pressure told and the leaders announced their defeat. Some of the protesters wept or called out "we'll win next time". Many of them changed out of their distinctive red clothing before leaving, apparently for fear of attacks by government supporters.Advice from the Foreign Office still warned against all but essential travel to Bangkok and recommended that Britons in the city stick to their hotels. But after the end of the siege shops around the city began reopening and although armed soldiers are on the streets the situation is shortly expected to return to something like normal.The protests began three weeks ago and were driven along by a series of live video messages by the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by a military coup in 2006. At their peak last week over 100 000 of his supporters rallied peacefully in Bangkok, demanding that the government resign....
By Thomas Bell in Bangkok
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/5152569/Thai-protest-ends-as-leaders-surrender.html
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