MikeLigalig.com

PATTAYA, Thailand - A summit of Asian leaders in Thailand was canceled on Saturday after hundreds of anti-government protesters breached security and swarmed into the media center at the hotel venue.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Pattaya, a beach resort about 150 kms (90 miles) south of the capital Bangkok and the venue for the East Asia Summit.

"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 televised address.

With protesters still roaming around the sprawling summit venue, about half of the leaders were evacuated by helicopter to a nearby military airbase.

The summit fiasco is a huge embarrassment for Abhisit's government, which came to power in December through parliamentary defections the opposition says were engineered by the military.

The weekend's events will also raise questions about how enduring his government can be. Four prime ministers over the last 15 months have failed to resolve Thailand's deep political rifts between the royalist, military and business elite, and a rural majority loyal to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

On Saturday, hundreds of red-shirted Thaksin supporters broke through lines of soldiers and invaded the media center adjacent to the summit venue, the Royal Cliff hotel, blowing whistles, waving flags and shouting "Abhisit Out."

Red shirts vs blue shirts

Troops tried to stop them, but "red shirts" and soldiers came hurtling through a huge picture window at the media center in a furious scrum. Soldiers then bolted down the road to protect the hotel where Asian leaders were to hold a lunch.

After rampaging about the media center, the "red shirts" -- including a 90-year-old woman in a wheelchair -- were soon huddled with reporters in impromptu news conferences around the vast conference center. They denounced Abhisit's government as "anti-poor."

Thaksin, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail on a corruption conviction, is thought to be bankrolling the "red shirts."

The billionaire was ousted in a 2006 coup, but his reconstituted party regained power after elections, sparking months of protests last year by "yellow shirts" who closed airports in Bangkok and took a huge toll on the economy.

ASEAN leaders were to sign an investment agreement with China, but that was scrapped after the protesters 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 vigilantes arrived on the scene.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he deeply regretted the summit's cancellation.

"I hope for an early restoration of normalcy in Thailand and for the settlement of differences through dialogue and peaceful means," he said in a statement.

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 groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam


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