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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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Thai protestors retreat from Asia summit
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-10 21:09 Deputy National Police Chief Wiroj Pahonvej estimated there were 2,000 protestors. He said earlier that about 8,000 policemen, including riot police, have been deployed in Pattaya. It was unclear how many soldiers were deployed.
Abhisit was appointed by Parliament in December after a court dissolved a government led by Thaksin's allies for election fraud. The protestors say Abhisit took office illegitimately and should step down so new elections can be held. "We want Abhisit out. He is not picked by Thailand," said Upin, a 63-year-old housewife from Pattaya who declined to give her family name. "He doesn't know how to care for Thai people. He only helps the rich people, not the poor people."
"If they (pro-Thaksin protestors) manage to derail the summit, it will certainly be damaging to the status of the government in the eye of the international community," said Prapas Thepchatree, director of ASEAN studies at Bangkok's Thammasat University. The demonstrations "will draw attention from the other agendas like the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the financial crisis to the Thai political turmoil," Prapas said. "This strategy will make it harder for the government to ignore" the demonstrators, he said. Abhisit arrived at the Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Center by helicopter Friday, a government spokesman said. On Thursday, the demonstrators, whose numbers swelled to 100,000 in recent days, brought areas of Bangkok to a standstill. They blocked a major intersection and other choke points in the capital. More than 100 taxi drivers parked to block traffic, and other protestors later joined them and rallied into the night despite rain. Vast traffic jams, dubbed "political gridlock" by local media, plagued thousands of commuters and the government declared Friday a holiday in hopes of calming the situation. Safety concerns were heightened this week when a car carrying Abhisit was attacked by protestors in Pattaya. Abhisit was not hurt, but a rear window was shattered.
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