Issue-based protests during international meetings are nothing new and have come to be accepted as part of democracy. But what happened recently at the beach resort of Pattaya in Thailand was a special interest protest that shamed the hosts. A mob of supporters of former Prime Minister and business tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra stormed the venue of an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was forced to cancel the summit, decla re an emergency in Pattaya, and airlift the visiting heads of state or government to safety. The next day, the ‘Red shirts,’ further aroused by the strongman who fled the country after being deposed and convicted, took officials of the Interior Ministry hostage. With the embattled government imposing an emergency in Bangkok, the protesters responded by blocking highways leading to the capital. The government and the defence forces finally cracked down on the protesters, and also on opposition leaders.
This is the second time the Thailand summit of ASEAN has to be put off because of uncontrolled political protests. Last December, the month in which the annual summit is normally held, witnessed turmoil created by ‘Yellow Shirt’ protesters compelling postponement of the meet. Images of the demonstrators taking over the Government House and international airport are still fresh in the minds of television viewers. This time round, it is not as though there were no forewarnings of trouble. Two days before the ASEAN meet venue was stormed, Thaksin supporters blocked Bangkok’s thoroughfares demanding the resignation Prime Minister Vejjajiva and fresh elections to parliament. Why the security forces could not prevent such a breakdown of public order remains a mystery. Securing the Royal Cliff Beach Resort in Pattaya, the intended venue of the ASEAN summit, should have been child’s play — but that was what gaining access turned out to be for the pro-Shinawatra mob. By the time the defence forces decided to demonstrate their might forcing the protesters to end the agitation, Thailand’s image and that of Mr. Vejjajiva had already suffered a big dent.