Thai Strike Threat Recedes after Amnesty Bill Dropped

Calls by Thailand's opposition for a general strike Wednesday against a controversial amnesty bill appeared to go unheeded after the senate rejected the legislation.

The opposition Democrat Party had proposed the nationwide stoppage as part of its campaign against the bill, which critics say was aimed at allowing divisive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to return home from self-exile.

Around 50,000 people demonstrated against the amnesty bill in Bangkok late Monday, but a senate vote that night rejected the proposal and rallies have since dwindled.

Police estimated that around 1,600 people had gathered at the main opposition protest site in central Bangkok by Wednesday afternoon. Some 800 demonstrators were thought to be at two other rally areas nearby.

"We think that they were regular protesters, not people joining the strike campaign," national police spokesman Piya Utayo told Agence France Presse.

The Democrats had pressed on with their strike call despite assurances from the ruling Puea Thai party that it would not revive the bill.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra -- who is Thaksin's sister -- on Tuesday urged protesters to reject the strike and end their demonstrations.

Anger at the proposed amnesty has sparked a new round of street politics in Thailand.

Several bouts of rival protests since Thaksin's government was deposed in an army coup in 2006 have periodically brought chaos to the kingdom.