Leaders flee amid chaos in Pattaya

All the leaders were removed from Pattaya after about 1,000 demonstrators stormed the venue at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, who appeared upset, boarded a civilian helicopter that landed on the roof of the hotel.

Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein was also airlifted to the nearby U-Tapao airfield, and planes were on standby for the other leaders.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was the first to arrive at the airfield by helicopter, followed by Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Tan Dung and Thein Sein. Other leaders left by road but were evacuated within hours of the raid.

Panitan said leaders from China, Japan and South Korea had been evacuated separately from a hotel where they had been holed up for several hours after protesters trapped them with roadblocks.

He said details of the evacuation operation were "not being disclosed to the media".

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had landed at U-Tapao airport before having to turn back, Panitan said.

Abhisit saw off the foreign leaders at U-Tapao in the evening, and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who fled the venue with his wife in a speedboat, was also present.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's plane turned around in mid-flight yesterday after learning about the cancellation. Rudd's plane was about two hours out when it was diverted to an unknown destination for refuelling, the AP quoted a spokeswoman as saying.

Left behind at the venue were shell-shocked delegates and media staff, who stood amidst the debris including toppled metal-detectors, smashed reception tables and small pools of blood where people had been injured by broken glass.

Wives of certain Asean leaders appeared horrified when the protesters entered the hotel lobby, according to a Foreign Ministry source. They comforted one another, and one of them burst into tears.

Luggage was strewn all over Royal Cliff Beach Resort lobby as delegates checked out en masse.