Suddenly after days of tear gas and rubber bullets hundreds of cleaners in Bangkok have come out in force to clear up the debris strewn streets.<br /><br />The day before, the prime minister ordered police to stop battling the ant-government protesters, but this lull is for another reason:<br /><br />“The time has come to clean up before paying respects to the king on his birthday …... we will take a break from protesting for two or three days,” explained one Bangkok resident.<br /><br />The government hopes its sharp reversal in strategy will defuse the conflict that has killed five people and wounded hundreds more, but as one protester said, “this is just a step towards victory for us but it is not complete.”<br /><br />While Thailand’s military claims the threat of a coup has passed, the opposition says it will continue the campaign to try to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to keep her brother Thaksin from returning to power.
