Bangkok Post breaking news:-

Asean summit to be held in Pattaya

The Asean+3 and +6 summit will be shifted to Pattaya from Phuket, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya announced Thursday.

The reasons behind the change are because hotels in Phuket are fully booked at the time, which is just a few days before the Songkran celebration, he said.

The summit, which will be held from April 10 to 12, will be organised at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort hotel.

Mr Kasit said he has assigned Foreign Ministry officials to go to Pattaya to prepare for the summit, and has consulted with Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and National Police Bureau about ensuring security for the Asean leaders.

Another excuse to ban alcohol? Whatever happens be prepared for some disruption.

There was no alcohol ban when the ASEAN Defence Ministers meeting held in Pattaya last month and i didn't hear any ban from HuaHin during the main ASEAN Summit early this month. So ???

Explorer

Obviously you are behind the curve on this one...the government is discussing ways to control alcohol consumption countrywide during Sonkran. According to today's Post, the two proposals are a complete ban on sales for the entire 3-4 day holiday or only allowing sales between 6 pm and midnite. Either way, it's a big downer for the tourist industry and the stores/bars/restos that are dependent on such sales.

The other point about the ASEAN meeting coming to Patters for a couple days next month is they said thousands of delegates and media were expected...so expect increased traffic and traffic tie-ups due to VIP motorcades careening around town.

As long as they confine themselves to the Royal Cliff and PEACH, we'll probably hardly notice them. I believe that the alcohol restrictions being discussed for Songkran only apply to Thais, foreigners will specifically be exempted (we could even become the Thai's best friends... ). Apart from some traffic snarl ups, I don't think this will have too much effect on the entertainment zone in Pattaya. I hope not, anyway.

Little advice for the Asean big shots: Leave Thailand quickly after the Summit. If you stick around prepare to take cover or get very very WET If you like to you could just stay and watch the fun. A friend has a 2nd cousin that was on an official visit with the Norway Embassy, due to a flight fix up he spent SongKhran 2002 in Thailand. He said most enjoyable some of the best fun ever for him.