Bangkok  - Protests in Bangkok and on the Thai-Cambodian border wound down Sunday, one peacefully, the other leaving at dozens injured.

About 30,000 supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra ended their protest in Bangkok at midnight Saturday marking the third anniversary of the September 19, 2006 coup that ousted him.

The demonstration ended without violence. Some 6,500 police and soldiers were on standby around the protest venue to ensure it was kept under control.

"I think it was wise the 'red shirts' decided to stop at midnight," said Chaturon Chaisaeng, a former political ally of Thaksin's. "They were originally planning to stay a few days."

A simultaneous protest Saturday by the rival People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) near the ruins of an 11th-century Hindu temple on the Cambodian border resulted in a clash between demonstrators, police and villagers.

The ultra-nationalist PAD wanted to march to the Preah Vihear site to protest Cambodia's erection of housing on a still-disputed area adjacent to the ancient temple, which was the subject of border dispute last year.

The 2,000 protestors ran into a blockade of police and local villagers who tried to prevent them from entering the site. The clash left dozens injured, two critically, according to the Bangkok Post newspaper.

To restore peace, the government allowed PAD leaders to read their protest statement in an area near the disputed territory. The demonstrators reportedly left the area by Sunday.

The PAD has been spearheading protests against Cambodia's claim to a disputed area near the ancient temple since UNESCO's decision to grant World Heritage Site status in July 2008.

Perched on a cliff defining the Thai-Cambodian border, it was the cause of a sovereignty dispute in the 1950s that was settled by the International Court in the Hague, which granted Cambodia rights to the structure in 1962.

But the ruling failed to determine ownership of a 4.6 square kilometre area adjacent to the temple, which is now claimed by both countries.

The ongoing dispute almost flared up into a border war last year, when both sides beefed up their military forces in the area resulting in several shootouts and a handful of casualties.

The conflict was sparked when PAD members crossed into the disputed area and were captured by Cambodian soldiers. (dpa)