Red-shirt forces closure of Summit

Pattaya - The summit of Asean leaders with dialogue partners has been cancelled after a clash of red-shirts and blue-shirts outside the venue and a subsequent invasion of the hotel.

Angry protesters stormed into the Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall, the media centre of the Asean summit, after they learned an injured protester had died.

The media centre is some 100 metres from the leaders' meeting place. The protesters walked throughout the Royal Cliff Beach Resort Hotel compound to search for the meeting rooms.

Heavily equipped anti-riot commandos had been stationed in the hotel but were removed when protesters got angry at their presence and threatened violence.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was about to have lunch with foreign leaders when the protesters arrived. He consulted with the leaders and decided to postpone the summit for safety reasons.

The Asean leaders agreed, said they understood the situation and began to leave for their planes at U-Tapao military airfield, some 30 kilometres east of Pattaya.

Leaders told Abhisit they sympathised with him and hoped the summit would be resumed as soon as possible.

The anti-government protesters accused the government of using force against them and demanded Abhisit take responsibility by stepping down.

Protest leader Arisman Phongruangrong displayed used blue shirts, a smoke bomb, spent shells and spiked nails in front of reporters at the media centre to back up his accusation.

The government-sponsored blue-shirts, he said, fired on protesters who had come to Pattaya to express their democratic right at the Asean summit.

Military officers wore the blue shirts to attack the peaceful demonstration, he said.

"The shooting was apparently intended to kill," Arisman said.

Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayagorn made no clear rejection of the accusation, saying: "Who caused the violence is under investigation."

A government official said 13 injured had been admitted to a Pattaya hospital and some were in a serious condition but none had died.

One person in a serious condition after being shot was Sanit Keowsri from Prachin Buri, said Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban.

"He is an ordinary citizen who wanted see the Asean summit go smoothly, not a red-shirt protester," Suthep said, noting that no red-shirts had been wounded.

However, the protesters gave the government one hour after the end of their press conference at noon to find the gunmen. When the deadline passed, they broke into the convention centre.

The Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) protesters began their rally in Pattaya on Friday when the Asean leaders and their partners from Asia and the Pacific gathered for the summit. They retreated on Friday evening but vowed to resume the protest when they were attacked by blue-shirts while leaving the venue.

The presence of the blue-shirts and the brief clash on Friday evening proved a turning point, as the DAAD in Bangkok then mobilised a mass rally in the beach city with the intention of disrupting the summit.

Government supporter Newin Chidchob, a former red-shirt, was accused of setting up the blue-shirts to counter the protesters.

Newin denied the allegation, saying he was in Pattaya to observe the situation and had done nothing.

However, Arisman said that he knew Suthep and Newin had met on Friday night at a Jomtian restaurant to plot the move against the red-shirts.

Reporters saw Suthep and Newin walking together to inspect areas near the meeting venue around 9pm on Friday night.