Former PM Thaksin among 14 sought as demonstrators back down peacefully
after violent clashes on Monday
Jonathan Watts in Bangkok
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 14 April 2009 14.48 BST
Bangkok protesters 'feel they have been robbed of political power'
Thai police have issued arrest warrants for 14 anti-government protest leaders, including the exiled former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, whose supporters have been behind the demonstrations.
The warrants followed the capitulation of the protesters in Bangkok today, ending a bloody three-week period of unrest with a plume of black smoke, a cascade of water and a promise to return to the streets unless Thailand's political system was reformed.
Mark Tran analyses the weekend's violence in Bangkok
About 3,000 demonstrators, many in tears, retreated from Government House and four leaders handed themselves into the police as hundreds of armed troops surrounded their last stronghold.
Thaksin's ousting as PM has been at the heart of three years of political turmoil. The arrest warrants cited the protest leaders for creating a public disturbance and illegal assembly, which carry prison terms of up to seven and three years respectively.
After at least two demonstrators were killed and 117 injured in yesterday's violent clashes, the protesters backed down relatively peacefully today. They set fire to two buses, ignited gas canisters and hosed the streets with water from a stolen fire engine, but there was no direct conflict with soldiers massed behind armoured personnel carriers and armed with M16 rifles and percussion grenades.
"This is not the end. We'll come back," said one protest leader, Nattawut Saikuar, after a farewell address to supporters. He said the protest leaders would meet after the Songkran new year festival – the three-day holiday ends on Thursday – to "discuss our next move".
The rebels, who identify themselves with red shirts and are mostly from Thailand's poorest classes, have surrounded Government House since the end of March. They are calling for new elections and the resignation of the prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, whom they accuse of being a puppet of the military.
The clashes have revealed the dangerous division in Thai society between a rich urban elite and poor migrants and farmers. Several of the demonstrators blamed the elderly king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, for manipulating the government behind the scenes. Most wanted Thaksin to return to power.
Last week, the red shirts seized key traffic intersections in the Thai capital, forced the cancellation of the Asean summit in Pattaya and prompted the government to declare a state of emergency.
Rival yellow and blue-shirted mobs, which support the government, have launched vigilante attacks, particularly on taxi drivers who are seen as a support base for the reds.
The security forces reported two drive-by shootings early this morning, one of which left a soldier critically injured. Several protesters claimed to have been beaten up by vigilante gangs. They said the army had covered up at least 10 killings.
The conflict has prompted staff at the embassies of several countries, including the US, the UK, Japan and France, to warn their citizens to either leave the capital or stay indoors.
As smoke billowed from burning buses again today, the American-born president of the Bangkok Mission Hospital, George Larrson, said social disruption had deteriorated since he set up the institution three years ago.
"To have this many troops on the streets and to have reds closing down much of the city last week is the worst yet," he said.
The prime minister said he was willing to listen to the protesters, but not to the man who claims to be their leader.
"I'm not interested in making a deal with Thaksin," he told Reuters. "But I do listen to the concerns of some people who have joined the 'red shirts' in terms of democratic developments. In particular, if they are not satisfied with the constitution, if they think there may be some injustice in the system, I am happy to address those."
Yesterday afternoon, soldiers regained control of Government House, which was empty of protesters and filled only with the plastic bottles and other rubbish left behind after the sit-in
Before leaving, the demonstrators held a retreat rally in which they sprayed each other in water in a traditional new year celebration. But many were crying after failing to achieve their goal of more democracy.
"We are going home. I'm glad the violence has stopped this time but, unless there is a change, we will come back again and fight even harder," said Thanachai, a hotel worker who was waving a Thai flag on top of an open truck.
"There is no justice in Thailand the way things are now."
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