PATTAYA, Thailand, April 11, (AFP) - Thundering low over this Thai beach resort, helicopters airlifted bewildered foreign leaders in extraordinary scenes after a red-shirted swarm of protesters stormed the luxury hotel venue.
Thousands of supporters loyal to fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra barged past lines of soldiers and riot police, smashing their way through the glass doors of the upscale hotel hosting the ASEAN talks.
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| Thai protesters loyal to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra storm the venue of the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits, in Pattaya some 180 km south-east of Bangkok on April 11, 2009. AFP |
Hooting horns and yelling slogans, they streamed into the building and through the media centre, astonishing dozens of journalists as they rampaged towards an adjacent building where leaders were holding a luncheon.
Hotel staff quickly cleared the restaurants and hustled bikini-clad tourists out of the pool as the protesters staged a sit-in rally at the heart of the summit, blocked by security forces with flak jackets and shotguns.
“The commotion made us nervous,” said one shaken hotel worker, a young waitress named Sureerat.
Embattled premier Abhisit Vejjajiva quickly appeared on live television, telling the divided nation that the summit of 16 Asian nations was cancelled because of the protesters, who are demanding his resignation.
In a dramatic move, he called a state of emergency for Pattaya -- one of Thailand's top tourist destinations -- and the surrounding province to assist the immediate evacuation of the visiting heads of state.
“The government has a duty to take care of the leaders who will depart from Thailand,” Abhisit said in the address, which went out on all channels. “In this extremely serious situation, the government has decided to impose a state of emergency in Pattaya and Chonburi to deal with the situation.
”Within minutes, the deafening noise of the protesters, which had echoed through the halls of the venue, was replaced by the thumping of the helicopter blades as the aircraft swooped onto the hotel's rooftop.
Abhisit -- the number-one target of the demonstrators -- was the first to fly out of town, whisked away to the Vietnam War-era U-Tapao military airfield near Pattaya.
The leaders of the Philippines, Myanmar and Vietnam followed by chopper to the airstrip, where planes were on standby to take them home. |
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