Violence in Pattaya!

[Mentors]

50%, - but only if he has'nt a meal

[Flashermac]

Bangkok Post

11 Apr 2009

 

 

Dramatic evacuation ends chaotic Asian summit

 

Pattaya - Thundering low over the Jomtien beach, helicopters airlifted out bewildered foreign leaders in extraordinary scenes after Red Shirts swarmed into 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.

 

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 the summit of 16 Asian nations was cancelled because of the protesters, who demanded his resignation.

 

In a dramatic move, he called a state of emergency for Chonburi province, including Pattaya, to assist the immediate evacuation of the visiting heads of state.

 

It was the first use of an emergency declaration since protests turned to violence in Bangkok last year. Although a state of emergency allows draconian measures such as mass arrests and use of force against anyone who resists, the measures were not used.

 

"The government has a duty to take care of the leaders who will depart from Thailand," Mr 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.

 

Mr Abhisit - the main target of the demonstrators - was the first to fly out, whisked away to the U-Tapao Naval Airfield, where US B52 bombers were once based during the Vietnam War.

 

The leaders of the Philippines, Burma and Vietnam followed in choppers to the airstrip, where planes were on standby to take them home. Other leaders left by road, but all were evacuated within hours of the fiasco.

 

A Southeast Asian diplomat said visiting dignitaries were not perturbed about the "captain of the ship" leaving first.

 

"Abhisit was the target of the protesters and if he remained here, the other leaders would have been endangered," he said.

 

Left behind were shell-shocked delegates and the media, who stood amidst debris including toppled metal detectors, smashed reception tables and small pools of blood where some protesters had been injured by broken glass.

 

At a Japanese restaurant overlooking the pool, hotel staff locked the glass doors but opened them briefly for stranded guests as well as police shuttling in and out of the hotel.

 

However, a group of foreign diplomats' wives nonchalantly finished their sushi lunch.

 

"We are used to these demonstrations," said Janet Rodriguez, wife of the Philipines ambassador to Thailand, while observing the invasion of the summit venue "is not a sign of strength" for the host nation.

 

Luggage was strewn all over the lobby of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, as the delegates checked out en masse.

 

"We have to pull out now," said the aide of one Southeast Asian leader, barking orders from a hand-held radio as his 50-member delegation prepared to travel to the nearby airbase.

 

"Thailand should not have allowed this to happen. How could they have allowed the protesters to go this far? They should have blocked them before they reached here," he said.

 

 

[Old Hippie]

no more than 5 punters in a bar

 

 

SO you and 5 girls in a short time room would constitute an illegal meeting/gathering? better limit it to just 4 bar girls.

[drogon]

'Abhisit raps 'enemies of the state'

 

Could it be that the governement waited and took no actions -> just to gather popular local support (Thai people pissed at losing business due to the UDD) as well as international support

-> to later allow a crackdown which would raise no protests (except from the UDD) ????

 

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/140262/emergency-decree-lifted-in-pattaya

-------------------------------

 

 

By: BangkokPost.com

Published: 11/04/2009 at 07:50 PM

 

The government lifted the Emergency Decree in Pattaya and Chonburi after foreign delegates to the Asean summit left safely, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Saturday evening.

 

The prime minister in the afternoon announced a state of emergency after anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) protesters were able to break into the venue for hosting the 14th Asean Summit and related summits.

 

The decree was revoked after Asian leaders who attended the regional meetings left the country safely.

 

The situation had greatly damaged the national image and affected people's confidence in the country, he admitted.

 

Mr Abhisit said he considered the red shirts who declared victory from breaking up the summits as people with ill intentions towards the country.

 

They are "enemies of the state", and legal action must be taken against them, he said.

 

Previously, the UDD leaders said the group had triumphed after the Emergency Decree was enforced by the government.