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Thailand shifts summit venue amid unrest

SINGAPORE: Amid growing political unrest in Bangkok, the annual East Asia Summit and the related meetings scheduled there for December will now take place in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. This has been communicated to all participants including India and China, according to diplomatic sources.

Thailand, the host and Chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations, did not cite political unrest for changing the venue, but the official announcement was punctuated by new acts of violence in Bangkok. In a pre-dawn explosion on Thursday, 10 freelance security guards of the anti-Government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), camping at a site of prolonged protest, were reported injured. No one claimed to have carried out the attack.

However, with the PAD accusing its opponents, including supporters of the government within the armed forces, a military spokesman affirmed that the Army was not involved. Later in the day, PAD activists staged a demonstration near the British Embassy in Bangkok, demanding the extradition of the military-deposed civilian leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, now in self-imposed exile in London.

Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, second leader at the helm since a “democracy-restoring election” less than a year ago, is Mr. Thaksin’s brother-in-law. And, observers point out that the new venue for the regional summits falls within the deposed leader’s political stronghold.

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