BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai (pictured) has expressed concern that anti-government protests will destroy the peaceful atmosphere at the Apec summit in Bangkok this week.
Anti-government groups Thalufah and Ratsadon have announced plans to rally in Bangkok from Wednesday November 16 to Friday.
Don said he hoped to see the same orderly atmosphere for the Apec summit on Friday and Saturday as at last week’s Asean summit in Phnom Penh.
But he added he could not say whether Thailand was 100% ready to host the Apec gathering.
“It was peaceful and everything was in order,” Don said of the atmosphere in Phnom Penh.
“But reports in Thailand indicate that it won’t be like Phnom Penh,” he said on Tuesday.
The foreign minister said he didn’t want to see any protests at the summit venue.
Other leaders at the ASEAN summit also said they would like to see Phnom Penh’s order repeated this week in Bangkok, he added.
The two anti-government groups were allowed to demonstrate in front of City Hall in Phra Nakhon district, four kilometers from the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center summit venue.
On Monday, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt urged protesters not to disrupt the summit by marching to other locations. Chadchart also asked the Metropolitan Police Office to help monitor the gatherings in front of City Hall.
Police intelligence did not detect any other signs of political activism this week, National Police Chief Damrongsak Kittiprapas said.
Don dismissed fears that the chaos of the 2009 Asean summit in Pattaya could be repeated, saying the political situation had changed.
“It’s a different era. We don’t expect things to happen like this,” he said, warning that serious disruptions to the summit would hurt Thais’ future prospects.
Regional leaders were forced to flee the venue of the 2009 summit when it was besieged by red-shirted protesters. The summit was later canceled.
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