ASEAN summit switched to Hua Hin
BANGKOK – Thailand will host the 14th summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations from February 27 to March 1 at a Hua Hin beach resort, shifting the venue from Bangkok to avoid anti-government protestors.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said it was necessary to hold the summit in Hua Hin, 150 kilometres south-west of Bangkok, "to preserve our image."
The anti-government Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) has vowed to block the summit in a tit-for-tat move against the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which scuttled plans to hold the summit last year when Thailand was under a different government.
The PAD first forced the government of former premier Somchai Wongsawat to shift plans to host the summit from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, 700 kilometres north of the capital, and then succeeded in postponing the regional forum – originally scheduled to be held in mid-December – when they seized and closed Bangkok’s two airports on November 26 to December 3.
Thailand is now under a new coalition government, led by Democrat Party leader Abhisit, but it faces a similar plague of protests.
The DAAD, or "red shirts," have called for Abhisit to resign, protesting every public function he hosts, much as the PAD, or "yellow shirts," did to the previous government.
Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Source: The Nation
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