Thai authorities vow to protect summit from protesters

Protesters threatened to shift their massive anti-government rally to the seaside East Asia Summit, as authorities on Thursday assured the 15 heads of state expected to attend this weekend that they will be safe.

Leaders of the Bangkok protest, which numbered about 30,000 people Thursday evening after swelling the day before to 100,000, said they were debating whether to travel from the capital to the summit's venue in Pattaya, about 145 kilometres south, to apply more pressure on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The demonstrators are demanding that Abhisit resign along with the top adviser to the country's revered king. The protesters, supporters of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, accuse the king's adviser of supporting the 2006 military coup that toppled Thaksin's government.

The protests fanned out across the capital Thursday as demonstrators used taxis to block roads in a bid to increase pressure on Abhisit's government. Taxi drivers sympathetic to the movement parked and then left their vehicles at one of Bangkok's main traffic circles, Victory Monument, paralyzing the city's already clogged streets.

"We have asked more taxi drivers to do the same if Abhisit does not resign," said a taxi spokesman, Kongkiat Janpeum. "There are thousands more of us."

More than 3,000 people joined in the impromptu protest, singing and dancing on the empty streets as leaders took to a makeshift stage to denounce the government.

"We want to increase pressure on the government by using civil disobedience," protest leader Jakrapob Penkair said. "We have to stop the government from being able to function."

Bangkok Police Chief Lt. Gen. Worapong Chiewpreecha urged the protesters to unblock the roads, but said police would not use force to disperse them.

Army could be summoned

The East Asia summit, set to kick off Friday,involves the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. Leaders of all the countries except India are expected to attend, with meetings of senior officials already underway Thursday at a luxury hotel in Pattaya.

Safety concerns were heightened after a car carrying Abhisit was attacked by protesters in Pattaya earlier this week. He was not hurt, but a rear window was shattered.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban sought to assure the visiting leaders they will be protected.

"I want to reiterate that every leader will be safe," Suthep said. "If the police are not sufficient, we will ask for additional forces from the army."

Protest leaders appeared undecided on whether to disrupt the summit, but agreed that a change of strategy was necessary.

"If our demands are not met, we may have to go to Pattaya," Jatuporn Phromphan told demonstrators gathered outside the prime minister's office in Bangkok. "We want to tell our ASEAN friends and other countries to forgive us in advance if this summit cannot take place."

Another protest leader, Nattawut Sai-kua, said that the goal was not to derail the talks.

"We will just have to decide how we can pressure the government in the context of the summit, but we won't stop it from happening," he said.

Abhisit insisted he would not bow to protesters' demands for his resignation.

The protesters are supporters of Thaksin, whom they say was wrongfully deposed in the 2006 coup. After a two-week sit-in outside the prime minister's office, protesters marched Wednesday to the home of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's top adviser, 88-year-old Prem Tinsulanonda, whom they accuse of undermining democracy by orchestrating the coup that ousted Thaksin.

The protests are the latest episode in Thailand's protracted political turmoil, which has been a tug-of-war between Thaksin supporters and opponents since 2006.