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April 13, 2009
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was to have hosted two days of talks with the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea and other allies in the biggest international gathering since the G20 summit in London this month.
But the 16-nation meeting was aborted Saturday when anti-government protesters broke through cordons of troops and riot police forcing presidents, prime ministers and a monarch to be evacuated by helicopter from the Royal Cliff Beach Resort’s rooftop.
More than 1,000 demonstrators broke through a wall of unarmed soldiers, smashed through the convention center’s glass doors and ran through the building, blowing horns, waving Thai flags and shouting demands for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign.
They declared victory after Mr. Abhisit was forced to cancel the 16-country summit, where leaders of regional powers China, Japan and India, and the U.N. secretary-general and president of the World Bank, planned to discuss the global financial crisis.
Mr. Abhisit later denounced the protesters on national television as the “enemies of Thailand.”
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Saturday declared a state of emergency in Chonburi province including Pattaya, venue of ASEAN and related summits after anti-government protesters broke into the conference center.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) related summits scheduled on April 10-12 have been canceled because of security reason, the Thai government announced Saturday.
The summits have been postponed to a later date, said Panitan Waltanyakorn, the acting government spokesman. He did not give a specific new date.
Before the announcement of cancellation of summits, the red-shirted protesters had broken into the summits venue and the media center, which made the summits impossible.
After the emergency decree, the protesters have begun to retreat from the media center and the meeting venue.
Foreign leaders of the participating countries started to evacuate from hotels after the meetings were canceled. Earlier, protester leaders said they would stop Thai prime minister’s convoy to prevent him from attending scheduled summits.
Source: washingtontimes.com, news.yahoo.com
read comments (1)
March 8th, 2010 at 3:09 am
Sanctuary of Truth, a monumental structure near Pattaya, ia a colossal carved wooden pavilion displaying rich architectural heritage of Thailand.