An anti - government protest in the centre of Thailand's capital, Bangkok, has begun to break up, a correspondent at the scene says.
Demonstrators who had been camped around the Government House have been walking away from the area.
The news follows calls by protest leaders for people to leave the area, after thousands of police and soldiers moved to tighten a cordon overnight.
Two people died in clashes involving demonstrators and residents on Monday.
Red-shirted protesters are demanding the resignation of PM Abhisit Vejjajiva - but he has refused and had urged them to go home.
Protester Kannika Saikaew, 37, said: "I'm sad that we've not received justice but if we'd have stayed we would have been in danger."
On Tuesday, protest leader Prateep Ungsongtham Hata told the AFP news agency: "We held talks among the leaders since last night and have agreed that we will disperse our protesters for a while."
Ms Prateep said the leaders wanted to prevent any loss of life, saying the protesters "really want to fight and sacrifice themselves so we wanted to prevent a catastrophe".
"We are not surrendering, we are just dispersing the gathering because we have done nothing wrong," she said.
Another protest leader, Jatuporn Pronpan, told Reuters: "We have to stop because we need to look after the lives of our supporters."
Supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra display placards against Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva as riot policemen keep watch outside the venue of the 14th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Pattaya April 10, 2009. Asian leaders began arriving in Thailand on Friday for a summit focusing on the global financial crisis, as protesters broke through police lines and blocked the entrance to the conference venue. REUTERS/Claro Cortes IV (THAILAND POLITICS BUSINESS CONFLICT)
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