BANGKOK — Thai antigovernment demonstrators reached a truce on Tuesday in their battle to rid the country of its most influential political family, but thousands of protesters continued to follow the orders of their leader, who vowed not to give up his campaign.

Suthep Thaugsuban, the protest leader, declared what he called “a partial victory — not yet absolute” in the protests, which have brought unrest to a number of neighborhoods in the sprawling capital.

“We cannot go home now,” he told his supporters. “We have to continue fighting.”

Mr. Suthep’s announcement came after the Thai police employed a novel tactic that returned calm to the streets following fierce battles with protesters. On Tuesday, riot police officers cleared away barbed wire, put down their shields and opened the doors to a police compound that the protesters had vowed to lay siege to.

“In every area where there has been confrontation, we have now ordered all police to withdraw,” Bangkok’s police chief, Kamronvit Thoopkrachang, told Reuters. “It is government policy to avoid confrontation.”