Uncertainty over Summit

Red-shirted protesters storming a summit venue in Pattaya last month. Many country delegations were privately appalled at the security breakdown. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

The Straits Times
http://www.straitstimes.com

May 12, 2009

Bangkok bent on holding it but foreign leaders yet to confirm attendance

By Nirmal Ghosh, Thailand Correspondent

BANGKOK: Thailand, still smarting from the humiliation of the aborted Pattaya summit, is bent on holding the Asean+6 summit in Phuket over June 13 and 14, and will invoke an internal security law to reassure Asian leaders that the government has full control.

Speaking to reporters in Phuket yesterday afternoon, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva remarked on the 'importance of these meetings for Thailand to regain the trust of the international community' and added that the security Act would enable the government to mobilise multiple state agencies 'to ensure the meetings go smoothly'.

But not everyone is happy, and uncertainty still hangs over the participation of many foreign leaders.

Officials and diplomats have been making trips to Phuket to sort out logistics and other issues, but as of yesterday apart from the host, none of the 15 countries had confirmed that its leaders would attend.

'A lot of countries are quietly wondering why there should be a summit in June when there is another scheduled for October. It seems Thailand is more intent on restoring its own image,' one diplomat said, requesting anonymity.

Another diplomat who also did not want to be named, echoed the view, saying: 'Nobody seems very comfortable. Everyone would be much happier if the two summits were rolled together in October.'

At Pattaya last month, red-shirted protesters of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) stormed the venue of the summit, forcing its cancellation and the hurried evacuation of regional leaders.

Many country delegations, while expressing sympathy for the Thai government, were privately appalled at the security breakdown and the potential risk their leaders had faced.

Last week, Thailand's army chief General Anupong Paochinda was quoted in local media as saying some leaders, if not comfortable with security arrangements, 'might ask to send their own armed security guards'. That, he said, would further damage Thailand's credibility.

Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan - a former Thai foreign minister and senior member of the ruling Democrat Party - said in Bangkok during last week's health ministers' meeting that more than half of the 16 countries slated to take part in the summit had agreed to Thailand's proposal to host it in Phuket. But he did not specify which ones.