Red Shirts Surrender

The key red-shirt leaders including Jatuporn Promphan, Nutthawut Saigua and Kwanchai Praiphana have turned themselves in at the National Police Office. They were accompanied upstairs by Pol. Gen. Adul Saengsingkaew. He declined to comment if the leaders will be granted bail.

Just after lunch on May 19, Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan on a the main Red Shirt rally stage pleaded with the Red Shirts to end protesting at Rajprasong to avoid further loss of life.

"Please understand and I know you all knew I will never abandon you but it is now time to avoid more lives lost because it's our Red Shirts who got killed," he said.

Red shirt leader Natthawut Saikua said as their leader, the Red Shirts must now end their rally.

"I can no longer tolerate the cruelty inflicted on us, the Red Shirts," he said.

Natthawut said the Red Shirts should conserve their energy and determination in order to fight another day.

He said the Red Shirts leaders would sacrifice their freedom in exchange for the safety of their fellow reds. Thousands of Red Shirts appeared emotional and unwilling to disperse.

In the afternoon on May 19, smoke could be seen billowing from the Stock Exchange of Thailand's headquarters as helicopters buzzed in the sky above. Though trading has been taking place at a different, undisclosed location in recent days, stock-exchange officials closed trading on May 20 however, earlier in the day, Thailand's benchmark index finished up 0.7% on hopes for a quick resolution.

AFP/Getty Images Red Shirts last stand in Bangkok’s upscale shopping district.

Thick plumes of smoke rose across other locations in the city as militant protesters targeted some of Bangkok's main commercial centers. In other parts of Thailand, local television broadcast pictures of anti government demonstrators setting alight a provincial government building in northeastern Khon Kaen.

Speaking on the protesters' main stage, one of their leaders, Jatuporn Prompan, explained that the demonstrators had to call off their rally to prevent any more people dying. At least 66 people have killed since the demonstrators launched their campaign for new elections in mid-March, with more than half of those coming in the past four days as militant protesters and local street thugs clashed with army troops.

"We know this decision will pain you," said Red Shirt leader Mr. Jatuporn, wearing a white T-shirt bearing the image of Indian protest leader Mahatma Gandhi. "But we have to stop the death, even though our fight will carry on."

As he was speaking, explosions could be heard and militant Red Shirts in the area began setting fires and other debris alight, reviving the prospect of further bloodshed and filling the afternoon air with choking black smoke. People at the demonstrators' main stage, meanwhile, wept and pleaded for Mr. Jatuporn and another leader, Nattawut Saikua, to change their minds. Instead, the two men went with other Red Shirts to surrender at Bangkok's police headquarters a short walk away.

Reuters Thai military tank knocks Red Shirt Barricade Down.

Armored vehicles broke through a barricade during an operation to evict anti-government "red shirt" protesters from their encampment in Bangkok on the 19th.

Some protesters meanwhile set fires in buildings around Bangkok, including the upscale Central World mall. Local TV reports said the first floor of the mall was on fire.

Speaking at police headquarters, Mr. Nattawut urged the remaining few thousand demonstrators to disperse. "Go home, the police have already prepared vehicles for you," he said. "And if you trust me to be your leader again, I'm ready to fight again for real democracy in this country."

The mainstream protesters surrendered more quickly than many analysts expected after hundreds of soldiers began tearing down their fortifications. Gen. Lertrat Rattanavanich, a senator involved in trying to rescue negotiations between protesters and the government, warned that if the protest leaders don't surrender, "the losses could be huge."

Troops occupied a highway overpass early on Wednesday, May 19, overlooking the camp and were seen firing sporadic shots into the camp. Others fired from the tracks of an elevated-rail network they used as a vantage point. At the entrance to Silom Road, Thailand's equivalent of Wall Street, troops turned water cannons on protesters in an effort to disperse them and began tearing down a barricade constructed from tires and sharpened bamboo staves. An armored tank repeatedly rammed the barrier, breaching what the Red Shirts call their "liberated zone."

Police said at least five people were killed in the crackdown, including an Italian journalist.

Thailand's armed forces moved in to choke off the protest after Red Shirt leaders failed to agree on a way to end the demonstrations, which have pitted the mostly rural demonstrators against an army-backed government they say has manipulated Thailand's democratic process to hold onto power. Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the army was taking action to "restore rule of law" after months of chaos in central Bangkok.

People familiar with the negotiations between the two sides said the biggest problem was the main Red Shirt leaders' inability to control hard-core demonstrators on the edges of the rally site, and the prospect of further violent guerrilla-type clashes remains.

The mood in Red Shirts' main camp was verging on panic at times as explosions—apparently from fireworks—reverberated around the area. Some demonstrators attempted to seek refuge on a large stage erected in the area, and opposition activist Mr. Nattawut pleaded with people not to break ranks. "Please stay calm. We will be here with you," he said before launching into a song to help soothe demonstrators' frayed nerves.

The protest began peacefully on March 12, when tens of thousands of people flowed into Bangkok after Thai courts confiscated $1.4 billion of Mr. Thaksin's family fortune. The court ruled that much of the wealth had been amassed through corruption—a ruling Mr. Thaksin decried as evidence of a political conspiracy against him following the 2006 military coup that removed him as prime minister.

In recent weeks, as the demonstrators set up camp in Bangkok's main shopping district, shutting down dozens of hotels and shopping malls, the protests have taken on a more violent tone. Around the periphery of the main camp, some demonstrators began throwing Molotov cocktails and other improvised explosive devices at security forces sent in to seal off the protest.

The army has used snipers to peg back the protesters in recent days.

After the government announced its plans to crack down on the protesters on May 15, the demonstrators initially expanded their territory, bringing them into regular conflict with security forces assigned to stop the protests spreading.

Many hard-liners were also angered by the death of a high-ranking Thai Army officer who had defected to the Red Shirts' cause and used his battalion of 2,000 highly-trained, armed soldiers to protect the perimeter of the Red Shirt encampments.

Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol, nicknamed Sae Dang, was shot in the head May 13 by unknown assailants, while being interviewed by a foreign journalist and the assassination was shown live to the horror of those at the scene.

Maj. Gen. Khattiya and many of his followers had been operating independently of the main protest leaders. Before he died, Maj. Gen. Khattiya said in an interview that his goal was to turn the Red Shirt protests into a full-blown revolt against the Thai state.

People involved in negotiations to end the protests say Mr. Thaksin has encouraged more militant Red Shirt leaders to continually add fresh demands, effectively delaying talks and a final agreement after Prime Minister Abhisit offered to hold a new election on Nov. 14. Mr. Thaksin denies deliberately sabotaging peace talks.

Last week, with scant sign of any progress, the Oxford-educated Prime Minister Abhisit withdrew his election offer and ordered troops to cordon off the demonstrations.