Army chief Anupong Paojinda replaced Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban as head of the Center for the Resolution of Emergency Situations after an embarrassing botched attempt to arrest several leaders of the Red Shirt protesters.

Suthep lost his job as punishment for the debacle, live on television, that happened at Bangkok hotel, the Bangkok Post newspaper said.

Around 500 police and security officials last week advanced on the Park Hotel where they knew several Red Shirts leaders had been staying. But around 2,000 protesters outside and inside the hotel hindered their progress and warned their colleagues who escaped.

Television cameras outside the hotel filmed a Red Shirt leader climbing out a window and lowering himself by rope to the crowd of protesters who whisked him away in a waiting car.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva shortly thereafter went on television to announce the appointment of Anupong. Abhisit said that "unsuccessful efforts taken so far" against the protesters had prompted the government to "review structural issues."

Replacing Suthep would make the chain of command more "effective and swift." Abhisit said the new authority would be able to "call in forces in a more united and integrated way, so that they can handle the terrorism-related activities specifically."

Suthep, 61, has been a controversial figure in the military-backed government of Abhisit. He stepped down from his parliament seat in 2009 after allegations over corruption. A media firm in which he has a stake was accused of receiving government contracts illegally, although nothing was proved.

It remains unclear just how far Anupong will go toward ending the protests that have been crippling parts of central Bangkok since the middle of March. The Red Shirts are demanding Abhisit dissolve parliament and call elections, something he has agreed to do in talks with Red Shirt leaders.

But the Red Shirts wanted Abhisit gone within 14 days and elections by the summer at latest. Abhisit said he would step down in October and set elections for January.

No additional talks have taken place between Abhisit and the Red Shirts and it remains to be seen just how far Anupong will go to physically end the protests.

Many of the protesters are rural poor from the north of Thailand and they support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his socialist policies. But the generals ousted Thaksin in 2006 amid allegations of corruption and he lives in exile.

Though Anupong will have a freer hand to tackle the continuing protests, he has in the past has shown reluctance to use force against them, the Bangkok Post said. An army source said Sunday that Anupong has been forced to take the job after Suthep failed.

The government and security officials, too, have been reluctant to use force to disperse protesters.

But patience wore out last week last week. More than 20 people died and around 800 were injured when the military tried unsuccessfully to retake the old town area of city. The violent clashes were the first major incident during the protests.

Among the dead are six soldiers and a Japanese cameraman, Hiroyuki Muramoto, who was working for the Reuters news agency. The Red Shirts captured several soldiers as they fled but released them unharmed soon after.

After the announcement of Anupong's appointment, 24 of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, a Red Shirt group, said they will surrender to police May 15, a UDD leader said. They are wanted by police for various protest actions including the storming of a television station and blocking road intersections.

The Red Shirts may eventually get their elections in a roundabout way. Earlier this month the country's Election Commission said the ruling Democrat Party should be dissolved for receiving an illegal donation of $8 million in a previous election. The commission also said the Democrat Party, Thailand's oldest, allegedly misused an $895,000 political development fund provided by the European Commission.

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