As our convoy travelled from Pattaya to U-Tapao Airforce Base at about 4pm on Saturday for our flight home , it was as if nothing had happened. Apart from litter outside the hotel, there was not a red shirt in sight. Everywhere there were signboards welcoming leaders from ASEAN and the wider region with their national flags fluttering in the wind.
But in fact huge damage had been done to ASEAN and to Thailand. For the second time, an ASEAN Summit had to be postponed because of demonstrations. This time leaders were already in Pattaya or arriving. Except for Indonesian President SBY who arrived late and could not leave U-Tapao, the other ASEAN leaders were staying at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort. The leaders of China, Japan and Korea were at the Dusit Thani unable to join us at the conference centre. Australia's PM Rudd was in the air and flew back. The NZ PM was probably in Bangkok. UNSG Ban Ki-moon stayed on in Vientiene. Others like the heads of the World Bank, IMF, UNCTAD and ADB also had their travel plans disrupted.Also read:
We sympathised with Thai PM Abhisit and knew that he had no choice but to cancel the Summit meetings. The alternative was violence which he was determined to avoid especially when so many leaders were in Thailand as guests of the government.
- Aborted Summit in Pattaya
- Foreign Minister blogs about leaving Summit
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