<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published April 14, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Pattaya was like a bad dream: George Yeo
By LEE U-WEN
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(SINGAPORE) Thailand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have suffered 'huge damage' after a major summit involving 16 regional leaders was scrapped on Saturday because of protests against the Thai government.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>Nothing left to do: The Singapore delegation preparing to board the SAF Fokker plane for the trip back home after the Asean summit was scrapped on Saturday because of protests against the Thai government. In a blog, Mr Yeo recounts events following the summit's cancellation </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The events that unfolded in the coastal town of Pattaya, where the Asean Summit was set to take place, were like 'a bad dream', said Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo in his first comments since returning home on Saturday night.
The Singapore delegation that travelled to Thailand, led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, departed Pattaya from the U-Tapao airport on board a Singapore Armed Forces Fokker plane.
Writing an entry in his blog posted on Sunday, Mr Yeo said Singapore 'sympathised with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and knew that he had no choice but to cancel the Summit meetings'.
'The alternative was violence which he was determined to avoid, especially so when so many leaders were in Thailand as guests of the government,' Mr Yeo said.
About noon on Saturday, thousands of red-shirted protesters stormed the Royal Cliff Beach Resort hotel where the summit was to be held and forced its cancellation. As a result of the chaos, Mr Abhisit declared a state of emergency in Pattaya.
Mr Yeo was midway through lunch with ministers from the other countries at the hotel when they heard that the summit had been cancelled.
'Within a few minutes, our security officers instructed us to leave the table immediately and go back to our hotel rooms. We could hear a commotion,' he wrote. 'Along the way, India's Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, an old friend, called me. We greeted each other but delayed no further because the security people were getting anxious. We hurried to the next building and were bundled off into the hotel lifts as the shouts got nearer.'
On the hotel's 12th floor, Mr Yeo recalled how he saw people in red shirts milling around the conference centre. 'Soldiers and policemen stood in groups not really engaging them. Not long after, I could hear helicopters whirring overhead picking up people from the roof-top. Out at sea, naval ships on patrol moved closer to shore and small boats picked up passengers.'
Mr Yeo said PM Lee was originally told by the Thai government that he and his delegation would be taken to safety by sea. They were to be ferried by small boats to a nearby naval vessel that would take them to Sattahip naval base. From there, they were to be driven to U-Tapao airport for their flight home.
'It all seemed quite unseemly to me that leaders and ministers had to leave this way,' wrote Mr Yeo. 'But anyway, we packed our belongings and waited for instructions, since the Thais were responsible for our security.'
=> Forgot to mention that Ass Loon and he wetted their pants?
But the boat plan was scrapped, he continued. 'Happily, we were informed around 3.30pm that the demonstrators had dispersed and we could travel by road to U-Tapao with full dignity.'
=> #1 ego salvaged?
As the Singapore convoy made its way to the airport, 'it was as if nothing had happened,' wrote Mr Yeo. '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.'
Although demonstrators overtook the conference venue by their sheer numbers, Mr Yeo said that he never felt any 'imminent danger' as the protesters were focused on disrupting the summit.
=> But CSJ and co. standing outside CPF Bldg requires a poodle battalion to contain?
'I didn't think they would have turned on us in an indiscriminate way, as foreign leaders and ministers were not their targets,' he said. 'In any case, every delegation had armed protection. But one could never be sure.
'Incidents could always happen and agents provocateur might be working to foment violence. The last thing we wanted was to be caught in a crossfire ... it all seemed like a bad dream. But for the Thais, the nightmare continues.'
=> 1 Familee has been raping Sporns in their sleep for 50 years! Which is worse?
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Pattaya was like a bad dream: George Yeo
By LEE U-WEN
<TABLE class=storyLinks cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(SINGAPORE) Thailand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have suffered 'huge damage' after a major summit involving 16 regional leaders was scrapped on Saturday because of protests against the Thai government.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>Nothing left to do: The Singapore delegation preparing to board the SAF Fokker plane for the trip back home after the Asean summit was scrapped on Saturday because of protests against the Thai government. In a blog, Mr Yeo recounts events following the summit's cancellation </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The events that unfolded in the coastal town of Pattaya, where the Asean Summit was set to take place, were like 'a bad dream', said Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo in his first comments since returning home on Saturday night.The Singapore delegation that travelled to Thailand, led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, departed Pattaya from the U-Tapao airport on board a Singapore Armed Forces Fokker plane.
Writing an entry in his blog posted on Sunday, Mr Yeo said Singapore 'sympathised with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and knew that he had no choice but to cancel the Summit meetings'.
'The alternative was violence which he was determined to avoid, especially so when so many leaders were in Thailand as guests of the government,' Mr Yeo said.
About noon on Saturday, thousands of red-shirted protesters stormed the Royal Cliff Beach Resort hotel where the summit was to be held and forced its cancellation. As a result of the chaos, Mr Abhisit declared a state of emergency in Pattaya.
Mr Yeo was midway through lunch with ministers from the other countries at the hotel when they heard that the summit had been cancelled.
'Within a few minutes, our security officers instructed us to leave the table immediately and go back to our hotel rooms. We could hear a commotion,' he wrote. 'Along the way, India's Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, an old friend, called me. We greeted each other but delayed no further because the security people were getting anxious. We hurried to the next building and were bundled off into the hotel lifts as the shouts got nearer.'
On the hotel's 12th floor, Mr Yeo recalled how he saw people in red shirts milling around the conference centre. 'Soldiers and policemen stood in groups not really engaging them. Not long after, I could hear helicopters whirring overhead picking up people from the roof-top. Out at sea, naval ships on patrol moved closer to shore and small boats picked up passengers.'
Mr Yeo said PM Lee was originally told by the Thai government that he and his delegation would be taken to safety by sea. They were to be ferried by small boats to a nearby naval vessel that would take them to Sattahip naval base. From there, they were to be driven to U-Tapao airport for their flight home.
'It all seemed quite unseemly to me that leaders and ministers had to leave this way,' wrote Mr Yeo. 'But anyway, we packed our belongings and waited for instructions, since the Thais were responsible for our security.'
=> Forgot to mention that Ass Loon and he wetted their pants?
But the boat plan was scrapped, he continued. 'Happily, we were informed around 3.30pm that the demonstrators had dispersed and we could travel by road to U-Tapao with full dignity.'
=> #1 ego salvaged?
As the Singapore convoy made its way to the airport, 'it was as if nothing had happened,' wrote Mr Yeo. '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.'
Although demonstrators overtook the conference venue by their sheer numbers, Mr Yeo said that he never felt any 'imminent danger' as the protesters were focused on disrupting the summit.
=> But CSJ and co. standing outside CPF Bldg requires a poodle battalion to contain?
'I didn't think they would have turned on us in an indiscriminate way, as foreign leaders and ministers were not their targets,' he said. 'In any case, every delegation had armed protection. But one could never be sure.
'Incidents could always happen and agents provocateur might be working to foment violence. The last thing we wanted was to be caught in a crossfire ... it all seemed like a bad dream. But for the Thais, the nightmare continues.'
=> 1 Familee has been raping Sporns in their sleep for 50 years! Which is worse?
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