- Summit cancelled after protesters swarm into venue
- North Asia leaders huddle at besieged hotel
- Anti-government "red shirts" clash with pro- "blue shirts"
PATTAYA, Thailand, April 11 (Reuters) - A summit of Asian leaders in Thailand was cancelled on Saturday after anti-government protesters breeched security and swarmed into the media centre at the hotel complex where it was being held.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Pattaya, where the East Asia Summit was being, a beach resort about 150 kms (90 miles) south of the capital, Bangkok.
"The task for me and the government now is to provide security for the leaders to travel back home safely," Abhisit said in a brief address on television.
The cancellation is a huge embarrassment for Abhisit's government, which came to power in December via parliamentary defections the opposition says were engineered by the military.
The weekend's events will raise questions about how enduring his government can be after four prime ministers over the last 15 months have failed to resolve Thailand's deep political rifts.
Many of the leaders of 16 Asian nations due to attend the summit had already arrived or were arriving in Pattaya on Saturday.
Hundreds of red-shirted supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra broke through lines of soldiers and smashed a window at the conference centre housing the media adjacent to the summit venue, the Royal Cliff hotel, blowing whistles, waving flags and shouting slogans.
Troops chased after them, but then bolted down the road to the hotel itself to prevent the protesters from reaching the venue where Asian leaders were scheduled to hold a lunch.
RED SHIRTS v BLUE SHIRTS
After rampaging about the media centre, the "red shirts" were soon huddling with reporters in impromptu news conferences around the vast conference centre. Among them was a 90-year-old woman in a wheelchair.
The East Asia Summit brings together the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand for discussions about trade, economic issues and regional security.
ASEAN leaders were to sign an investment agreement with China, but that was scrapped after the blockade kept Chinese Premier Wen Jiaboa from reaching the Royal Cliff Hotel.
The "red shirts" had intended to protest peacefully but became infuriated when a group of blue-shirted pro-government protesters arrived on the scene.
"There were at least two cases of shootings aimed to harm our red-shirt supporters, a clear evidence of government supporters possessing guns and using them directly at us," the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship said.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn earlier described the "blue shirts" as people "we believe are concerned about the meetings. They want them to continue, and they want them to continue peacefully".
But Reuters photographers said the blue shirts, wearing balaclavas or scarves to keep from being identified, had clubs, bricks and slingshots and thrown smoke bombs as they clashed with "red shirts".
On Friday, at least 2,000 "red shirts" broke through roadblocks manned by police and soldiers, pushing aside police vans and buses and even commandeered a fire truck.
Abhisit has insisted he will not give in to demands to step down made by Thaksin, a billionaire populist living in exile to avoid jail on a corruption conviction.
He was ousted in a 2006 coup, but his reconstituted party regained power after elections, sparking months of protests last year by "yellow shirts" that closed airports in Bangkok and took a huge toll on the economy.
(Additional reporting by Isabel Reynolds, Martin Petty and John Ruwitch in Pattaya, Viparat Jantraprap, Kittipong Soonprasert, Alan Raybould and Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok; Editing by David Fox)
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Pattaya, where the East Asia Summit was being, a beach resort about 150 kms (90 miles) south of the capital, Bangkok.
"The task for me and the government now is to provide security for the leaders to travel back home safely," Abhisit said in a brief address on television.
The cancellation is a huge embarrassment for Abhisit's government, which came to power in December via parliamentary defections the opposition says were engineered by the military.
The weekend's events will raise questions about how enduring his government can be after four prime ministers over the last 15 months have failed to resolve Thailand's deep political rifts.
Many of the leaders of 16 Asian nations due to attend the summit had already arrived or were arriving in Pattaya on Saturday.
Hundreds of red-shirted supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra broke through lines of soldiers and smashed a window at the conference centre housing the media adjacent to the summit venue, the Royal Cliff hotel, blowing whistles, waving flags and shouting slogans.
Troops chased after them, but then bolted down the road to the hotel itself to prevent the protesters from reaching the venue where Asian leaders were scheduled to hold a lunch.
RED SHIRTS v BLUE SHIRTS
After rampaging about the media centre, the "red shirts" were soon huddling with reporters in impromptu news conferences around the vast conference centre. Among them was a 90-year-old woman in a wheelchair.
The East Asia Summit brings together the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand for discussions about trade, economic issues and regional security.
ASEAN leaders were to sign an investment agreement with China, but that was scrapped after the blockade kept Chinese Premier Wen Jiaboa from reaching the Royal Cliff Hotel.
The "red shirts" had intended to protest peacefully but became infuriated when a group of blue-shirted pro-government protesters arrived on the scene.
"There were at least two cases of shootings aimed to harm our red-shirt supporters, a clear evidence of government supporters possessing guns and using them directly at us," the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship said.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn earlier described the "blue shirts" as people "we believe are concerned about the meetings. They want them to continue, and they want them to continue peacefully".
But Reuters photographers said the blue shirts, wearing balaclavas or scarves to keep from being identified, had clubs, bricks and slingshots and thrown smoke bombs as they clashed with "red shirts".
On Friday, at least 2,000 "red shirts" broke through roadblocks manned by police and soldiers, pushing aside police vans and buses and even commandeered a fire truck.
Abhisit has insisted he will not give in to demands to step down made by Thaksin, a billionaire populist living in exile to avoid jail on a corruption conviction.
He was ousted in a 2006 coup, but his reconstituted party regained power after elections, sparking months of protests last year by "yellow shirts" that closed airports in Bangkok and took a huge toll on the economy.
(Additional reporting by Isabel Reynolds, Martin Petty and John Ruwitch in Pattaya, Viparat Jantraprap, Kittipong Soonprasert, Alan Raybould and Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok; Editing by David Fox)
3 comments:
Sound like a cheap movie where corny stuff happen in thailand.
In cambodia, likewise sound like a horror movie.
Very sad.
Thailand is playing games of tricks! Thailand had created this crisis on purpose...
Border issues is delaying, this is Thai's tricky games...
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