NO LEADERS SKIPPING ASEAN SUMMIT, SAYS THAI GOVERNMENT

BY D. ARUL RAJOO

PATTAYA, April 9 (Bernama) -- The Thai Government insisted Thursday that no
foreign leaders had pulled out from the 14th Asean Summit and related Summits
which start here Friday, despite worsening demonstrations in the capital
Bangkok where anti-government protestors have closed a major intersection on the
second day of their planned rally.

Dozens of taxi drivers aligned to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
blocked roads at the Victoria Monument, paralysing traffic in several parts of
the capital and causing inconvenience to thousands of commuters, medical
service personnel and patients at nearby hospitals.

"We are not here to cause any problem to others, but merely want to show our
displeasure to the government. Either the government goes by the deadline or we
will come up with more drastic action," a spokesman of the protestors said
when contacted.

The protestors, who have swelled to more than 100,000 since last night, gave
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva until 4 p.m. Thai time to resign. Abhisit, who
was here to oversee preparations for the summits, rushed back to Bangkok as a
result of the massive protest.

The protestors have also threathened to seize the Government House.

But the spokesman vehemently denied speculation that the "red shirts", who
are aligned to the pro-Thaksin faction, would surround the Suvarnabhumi
International Airport, Thailand's main air gateway if the prime minister
failed to bow to their demands to resign or dissolve parliament.

"Absolutely not. We will not do that (close the airport), although other
drastic actions are possible," he said.

In November, anti-Thaksin supporters closed the airport for more than a
week, stranding over 350,000 people and caused havoc to the travel industry.

A taxi driver, who wanted to be known only as Ponchaiwit, said many taxi
drivers were joining the red shirts as they were fed-up with the current
government, which he claimed was a proxy of the People's Alliance for
Democracy (PAD).

The PAD had been behind the seige of Government House, the seat of the Thai
government, for three months last year and brought businesses in the area to
almost a standstill.



"Our business suffered for more than one year because of the PAD. Thaksin
gave us a new lease of life by providing us loans to buy new taxis at cheaper
cost but these ''yellow shirts'' (PAD) ruined our incomes," said Ponchaiwit,
who drives a Toyota Altis taxi.

In Pattaya, Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tharit Charungvat said so far
none of the 14 Leaders and a minister representing Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh had signalled any intention to skip the Summit for security
reasons.

"There are a lot of rumours and speculation about what is happening in
Bangkok. The security people have made all the preparations and if something
unexpected happens, we have contingency plans," he told a media conference here.

Tharit said it was normal for demontrations to take place during major
international events, citing the recent G-20 Summit where a major protest also
took place.

-- BERNAMA