Thai police charge 14 leaders of violent protests

Police issued arrest warrants Tuesday for 14 leaders of an anti-government movement, including ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as protesters abruptly ended violent demonstrations in Thailand’s capital.

A day after red-shirted protesters burned buses and seized intersections in clashes with police and soldiers that left two people dead and 123 injured, their leaders called it quits, urging a group of 2,000 die-hard demonstrators to go home.

The swift and unexpected resolution headed off the possibility of a confrontation with heavily armed troops massing around the demonstrators’ encampment near the seat of government. Dispirited protesters quietly boarded government buses watched over by soldiers.

But few expected it was the end of a rural-based movement that has shown the ability to mobilize 100,000 protesters and cause the cancellation of a regional summit in its campaign seeking to force out a government dominated by urban elements and hold new elections.

Charnvit Kasetsiri, one of Thailand’s most prominent historians, said the “political convulsion” may be over for now, but the underlying tensions between the rural poor and urban elite highlighted during the demonstrations remain.

“The government has underestimated the wrath of rural and marginalized people, and that is partly why they have not made enough effort to reach out to heal the rift. Without addressing that, this is not going to be the last riot,” he said.