Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters on May 29 that the government will not extend the curfew, which expired at 04:00 a.m. local time on the same day.

However, the government will continue to keep those areas under state of emergency, which was first declared in early April.

PM Abhisit said that the government decided not to extend the curfew because security agencies are confident that they could control the situation.

A curfew had been imposed in Bangkok and 23 other cities and provinces since May 19, following the widely arson attacks and violence by some hard-core red-shirts protesters who did not agree to end the two- month-plus rally in Bangkok.

The curfew had been extended twice due to the nation’s unrest. Violators could be jailed for at most two years, or be fined 40,000 bath (some US$1,200), or receive both punishments.

The two-month-plus rally by the anti-government red-shirts led to confrontation and clashes between the protesters and the troops, leaving at least 88 dead and 1,885 others injured.