Thai protests delay ASEAN summit

A summit between the South-east Asian nations and China has been delayed as anti-government protesters blocked access to the meeting.

The Saturday's summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China in the Thai beachside town of Pattaya mainly aimed to discuss the global financial crisis.

”The ASEAN-China summit has been postponed because of the attempts to block the arrangement of the leaders,” Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told reporters.

Some 2,000 of protesters calling for the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva gathered at the site of the summit in Pattaya. Hundreds of Thai military and police have also been deployed around the summit venue.

“The leaders still reaffirm that they are committed to hold this meeting,” the spokesman added.

In addition, a meeting between foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea on North Korea's recent rocket launch as well as economic issues, planned to be hold Saturday, was canceled due to anti-government protests.

The current protests follow mass rallies in Bangkok Wednesday. The protesters accuse Vejjajiva of seizing power by toppling the allies of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"Today we are not coming to stop the summit. We have come to join the summit to represent the Thai people because Abhisit cannot be responsible for our rights," protest leader Arismun Pongreungrong told AFP.

Vejjajiva has rejected protestors' calls to step down and dissolve his four-month-old government to hold snap elections.

British-born Vejjajiva came to power after a court charged the former pro-Thaksin party with fraud and threw Thaksin's brother-in-law out of the premiership. He was named prime minister in December after the collapse of the pro-Thaksin administration.

Thaksin, now in exile, was ousted in a 2006 coup.