Thai opposition scales down protests

Government welcomed protestors move but said they would never triumph over Yingluck's caretaker regime

Normalcy slowly returned to the troubled Thai capital today after a partial scaling down of protests against the government though the reprieve was seen as temporary as a key opposition leader has vowed to intensify the campaign against embattled Premier Yingluck Shinawatra.

Following the surprise announcement late last night by People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who has led protests against the government for four months, demonstrators abandoned an attempted shutdown of Bangkok.

However, Suthep has pledged protesters would "continue to close down government offices and businesses of the Shinawatra family as usual and our fight will be more intense".

The government welcomed the move by the protesters but said they would never triumph over Yingluck's caretaker regime.

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul thanked Suthep for deciding to dismantle most of the rally sites in Bangkok, but warned him that he would "never triumph over the government", Bangkok Post reported.

Surapong, an adviser to the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order that is overseeing the government's response to the protests, said he wanted to thank Suthep for freeing traffic lanes and allowing businesses to resume normal operations.

"If possible, I would like Suthep to end the rallies entirely because the protest had continually been raised to higher levels but it had not succeeded," he said.

"Suthep always changed the conditions and he still couldn't defeat the government. If he continues fighting, he would do more harm to himself."

The protesters accuse Yingluck of acting as a proxy for her fugitive brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006. He lives in self-exile in Dubai to escape a jail term on a corruption conviction.

The opposition boycotted the February 2 snap polls called by Yingluck to defuse the crisis.

Since November 2013, seventy attacks against protesters have resulted in over 20 deaths and 720 injuries. In recent days, five persons have died in blasts at protest sites.