Thailand To Announce New Asean Summit Dates Soon: Pm

[george]

Thailand to announce new Asean summit dates soon: PM

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thursday that new dates for an Asian summit plus six which was postponed following red shirted protesters' invasion into meeting hotel will be rescheduled and decided within days.

The premier admitted security measures were too lax at the meeting where hundreds of security forces did little to halt the rampaging demonstrators.

Thousands of pro-Thaksin supporters stormed the summit, forcing the event to be halted and the visiting leaders to be evacuated.

"We will decide on the dates for the Asean plus 3 and the Asean plus 6 in the next few days," Abhisit told a press conference.

"I will meet with the secretary general of Asean in the next two days. I will not allow the summit to fail again and will review all the potential weak points in the security measures," he said.

"I admit that the security and crowd control measures were insufficient, especially considering the presence of foreign dignitaries."

-- The Nation 2009-04-17

[animatic]

Back on track.

[MyphuketLife]

He can have all the security he wants, he needs to have them trained, you know things like DON"T JUST SIT THERE AND WATCH...

[midas]

That is a joke! They had plenty of warnings that the

redshirts could disrupt the meeting and that should have

automatically made them take extra security measures.

Maybe they should hold it on Phi Phi Island

[PhilHarries]

Well if he holds the summit on the Chakri Naruebet they could tow it out into the gulf where they should be able to defend it from marauding red shirts on jet skis.

[hanno]

As if the other Asian leaders are going to risk the huge loss of face that comes with being seen bundled out, again. Doesn't play too well with audiences back home.

[Thailand]

Oh boy-Talk about waving a red shirt to a bull!

[TIPSYBOB]

That is a joke! They had plenty of warnings that the

redshirts could disrupt the meeting and that should have

automatically made them take extra security measures.

Maybe they should hold it on Phi Phi Island

I agree with you Midas.

Having the meeting on an island is much easier to control.

ASlso a shot in the arm for that island.

[ballpoint]

As if the other Asian leaders are going to risk the huge loss of face that comes with being seen bundled out, again. Doesn't play too well with audiences back home.

Let's wait and see. If they do all show up it will be a massive vote of confidence for Abhisit, besides making you look very silly indeed for presuming to speak for them.

[wasabi]

The failure of security at the ASEAN summit was profoundly disgraceful. There was no attempt whatsoever to stop the red shirts.

[Rideau]

If he still wants to proceed with the meeting anyway, Phuket is the only option.

[Heng]

Good, anywhere but two sois down from my house.

[ballpoint]

He can hold it in my village. Anti red feeling is so high here now that anyone in a red shirt coming near the place would be shot.

[webfact]

Asean chief meets PM to reschedule Asian Summit

The Asean summit with dialogue partners from Asia and the Pacific could take place not later than early June, Asean chief Surin Pitsuwan said Friday.

Surin, a former foreign minister, was speaking after discussing the rescheduling of the summit with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the government house.

The Summit was postponed early this month after red shirted protesters stormed into a meeting hall of the summit held in Pattaya.

Members of the Asean and the dialogue partners wanted Thailand to resume the summit as soon as possible, said Surin.

However, Thailand as the chair could not fix the date for the summit since many members are not ready during the period of late May and early June, he said.

Many countries would have general election while some leaders have tight schedules on their respective abroad trips, he said.

- THE NATION -

[pedro01]

Perhaps letting the reds in helped Abhisit clamp down on them. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing.

Anyway - I reckon an Island may be better this time.

[helvetian]

Just how many foreign leaders will actually come back for another round of this circus? Abhisit has already shown that he can't guarantee the security of foreign leaders, no matter how many times he keeps saying it on TV.

[philo]

This country is unbelievable. Holding the (defunct) ASEAN meeting i PYA. I'm sorry I ever came here, and will do all I can to get my children out of here before they get STBD (ie. serious thai brain damage)

[JetsetBkk]

Phuket ready to host postponed Asean summit

PHUKET CITY: Phuket is ready to host the postponed Asean +3 and +6 conferences, following the abrupt cancellation of the financial summit in Pattaya over the Songkran holiday after anti-government protesters stormed the venue where it was being held.

Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop said that the government originally planned for Phuket to host the summit, but moved the high-profile event to Pattaya due to a shortage of rooms in Phuket over the Songkran holiday.

[helvetian]

Phuket ready to host postponed Asean summit

PHUKET CITY: Phuket is ready to host the postponed Asean +3 and +6 conferences, following the abrupt cancellation of the financial summit in Pattaya over the Songkran holiday after anti-government protesters stormed the venue where it was being held.

Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop said that the government originally planned for Phuket to host the summit, but moved the high-profile event to Pattaya due to a shortage of rooms in Phuket over the Songkran holiday.

So ASEAN was moved from Phuket to Pattaya because PM Abhisit forgot to make hotel room reservations for world leaders.

Wooooooooooooooow. Just when you think he can't amaze you any more, he comes out and pulls a stunt like that.

Edited April 17, 2009 by helvetian

[donx]

He can hold it in my village. Anti red feeling is so high here now that anyone in a red shirt coming near the place would be shot.

Where is your village? I ask because earlier this week, my wife was told not to bring any red shirts with us when we visit her village this summer. Her village is in Phatthalung.

[sriracha john]

Just how many foreign leaders will actually come back for another round of this circus? Abhisit has already shown that he can't guarantee the security of foreign leaders, no matter how many times he keeps saying it on TV.

As if the other Asian leaders are going to risk the huge loss of face that comes with being seen bundled out, again. Doesn't play too well with audiences back home.

Let's wait and see. If they do all show up it will be a massive vote of confidence for Abhisit, besides making you look very silly indeed for presuming to speak for them.

do you mean like this?....

Edited April 17, 2009 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

ASEAN Secretary-General says region's leaders willing to meet again

BANGKOK, April 17 (TNA) – ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said on Friday he is making efforts to coordinate a meeting of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the regional bloc's dialogue partners which were called off when the anti-Thai government protesters stormed the summit venue in Pattaya last Saturday.

Mr. Surin called on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at Government House on Friday.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Surin said that the ASEAN leaders as well as their dialogue partners--China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand--are prepared to travel to attend a rescheduled meeting in Thailand again, after the original event was cancelled.

Mr. Surin said he will promptly coordinate with the country leaders to reschedule a date, which should be within the next month or two. The venue also remains undecided.

“ASEAN leaders and dialogue partners remain confident and willing to cooperate with Thailand,” Mr. Surin said. “They harbour no criticism of what’s happened that prevented the meeting from happening.”

According to Mr. Surin, the rescheduled round of the ASEAN summit will now not involve heads of international organisations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund or the United Nations Secretary-General due to short notice. These leaders will however be invited to attend a later round of talks toward the end of the year.

[ballpoint]

He can hold it in my village. Anti red feeling is so high here now that anyone in a red shirt coming near the place would be shot.

Where is your village? I ask because earlier this week, my wife was told not to bring any red shirts with us when we visit her village this summer. Her village is in Phatthalung.

We're in Buri Ram. The tide's been turning against the reds for some time now. As I posted a while ago in another thread, Newin's propaganda is working, there's a growing belief that the reds are for a republic with Thaksin as president. The riots were the final tipping point, the residents of Din Daeng getting a lot of sympathy. When the ones who'd taken the money to join the reds came back, some with well over 10,000 baht, they soon learned it wasn't a good idea to flash that money about. There have been a lot of donations to the wats by those same ex-reds, trying to make merit for what they did.

[basjke]

So if the summit is gonna be held in pattaya again expect this time that no cars can be parked anywere in a circle between siracha,sattahip and pattaya for security reasons of course.But because all police will be involved in checking the car parkings and blocking roads because mr VIP has to go buy a beer somewhere there will be again no police left to block the reds from entering the royal cliff resort through the single entrance road.

[spongeman]

Oh, and helicopters at the ready.

[DP25]

I hope they don't hold it in Pattaya again. That was a bad idea even without the Red Shirts.

[donx]

I hope they don't hold it in Pattaya again. That was a bad idea even without the Red Shirts.

If the reason for holding it in Pattaya was because of no hotel rooms available in Phuket for the Songkran holiday, then my guess would be that it will be held in Phuket this time around. There should be plenty of rooms available now.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Everything went smooth when it was held in Hua Hin. Maybe that should be considered again.

[Roadman]

Pleasing to see that Ashibit has already grabbed the bull by the horns and got on with re organising the summit.

Thankfully the ASEAN leaders have better thought patterns and intelligence than some of the media and others around this place. They will have noted the way that Ashibit dealt to the failure of the original security forces leaders and the speed and efficency that the Reds were then dealt with once Ashibit put in place people he could work with to resolve the situation. What is pleasing about Ashibit is he showed the qualities of an excellent leader. That being that as soon as he was betrayed by those who had the duty to lead the response, he had the ability to recognise the problem, find the solution quickly and get the correct result. The final expectation for the process is that one ensures the original mistake is not repeated. I think he has or is close to getting people around him that he can now depend on and now has the confidence to hold a successful summit and deal effectively with any further Reds trouble makers.

Still do not like the wat the guy came to power but the guy is starting to show that he has the balls needed to run this country and with a good lashing of straight forward fairness. Good luck to him and a successful ASEAN summit. There are some positive signs starting to come from his leadership.

[helvetian]

Pleasing to see that Ashibit has already grabbed the bull by the horns and got on with re organising the summit.

The last time he grabbed the bull by the tail and got kicked in the face.

He'll probably try to grab it by the tail again this time around.