The Thai government is extending a state of emergency in 19 provinces, including Bangkok, because of lingering fears of unrest.
"The cabinet endorsed the lifting of the state of emergency in five provinces," deputy government spokesman Supachai Jaismut told AFP.
"Emergency rule will still be imposed in the rest."
The government invoked emergency rule on April 7 after mass opposition protests,
It banned public gatherings of more than five people and gave security forces the right to detain suspects for 30 days without charge.
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Earlier the government unit set up to oversee security during the unrest unanimously backed the call to maintain emergency rule in the capital and 23 provinces "because of security concerns," said spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd.
"It might be revoked earlier in the situation improves," he told AFP.
The government has said previously that emergency rule was likely to be lifted in many areas but not Bangkok, rejecting a call from the opposition for it to be revoked for a parliamentary by-election in the capital on July 25.
Government fears further dissidence
Two months of mass anti-government protests by the "Red Shirt" movement, pushing for immediate elections, sparked outbreaks of violence that left 90 people dead, mostly civilians, and nearly 1,900 injured.
A Red Shirt leader detained on charges of terrorism is running in the Bangkok by-election as a candidate for the opposition Puea Thai Party.
Abhisit invoked emergency rule in Bangkok on April 7, banning public gatherings of more than five people and giving broad powers to the police and military, including the right to detainee suspects for 30 days without charge.
Human rights campaigners have voiced concerns that the government's use of the sweeping emergency powers lacks transparency and violates freedom of expression.
Enraged protesters went on a rampage of arson after a deadly army crackdown ended their rally on May 19. The unrest also spread outside the capital, particularly in the Reds' stronghold in Thailand's impoverished northeast.
