ASEAN summits not to be canceled: Thai official

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-10 13:40

BANGKOK -- Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman on Friday dismissed rumors about cancellation of summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other dialogue partners, saying that everything is proceeding on schedule, Thai media reported.

The statement came as hundreds of red-shirted protesters have reportedly gathered on Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya but did not marched to venue of the summits, the Bangkok post said.

Tharit Charungvat assured the summits will go on at a press conference at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort hotel in Pattaya, where the summit is to open later Friday.

The spokesman said some state leaders are heading for Pattaya as scheduled, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen being the first to arrive on Friday morning. Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong is also on the way, he said.

"Concern about the rallies is there, but I would like to reiterate that nothing is beyond expectation," he said, adding that they had been aware weeks before that the protesters could come here.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Thursday evening turned down the protester's demands for his resignation in a national TV address, five hours after a pro-Thaksin movement's ultimatum expired.

The latest round of anti-government protests in Bangkok has entered the 16th day, and since March 27 all of the entrances of the Government House have been blocked by the red-shirts, or the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), preventing Abhisit and his cabinet ministers from entering to work.

The ASEAN summits are scheduled for April 10-12 in Pattaya, a resort city some 145 km southeast to Bangkok.