Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra appealed on Tuesday for anti-government groups to end ongoing street protests after the parliamentary defeat of an amnesty bill failed to defuse political tensions.

The bill, which critics say was aimed at allowing divisive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to return home from self-exile, was rejected by senators in a unanimous vote late on Monday.

Anger over the amnesty proposal saw around 50,000 people cluster in the political heart of Bangkok late into the night, with more than 3,000 anti-government protesters remaining on the streets early on Tuesday.

The opposition Democrat Party, which is seen as benefiting from the protests, has called for a three-day nationwide strike starting on Wednesday despite assurances from the ruling Puea Thai party not to revive the bill.

Prime Minister Yingluck, who is Thaksin's sister, urged demonstrators to reject the strike and end their protest.

"As many of their demands have been met, I plead for those protesting to stop," she told reporters, appealing to the public to give her government time to run the country.

Thaksin, who is widely believed to control the government from exile, also wants to withdraw the bill, according to his legal advisor Noppadon Pattama.

"We thought the bill would lead to reconciliation ... but it was an error of judgment," he told AFP.

But protesters remained defiant on Tuesday. Some say they do not believe the government's pledge to drop the bill, while others want to use the momentum from the amnesty defeat to topple the government.

"I came here because of the amnesty bill and I don't want this government to be in power... the government is too corrupt," said protester Tan Thongrit at the capital's Democracy Monument.

Experts say the ill-fated bill has damaged Yingluck's administration and helped the opposition and anti-government groups, who have come out in force for nearly a fortnight.

AFP