Thai protesters threaten to stop Asian summit

Thai protesters threatened yesterday to stop a summit of Asian leaders going ahead this weekend, opening up a new front on the second day of mass street rallies against Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
But embattled premier Abhisit refused to step down Thursday, defying tens of thousands of protesters who massed in Bangkok for a second day demanding his resignation.
Abhisit's four-month-old government faces its biggest challenge after more than 100,000 loyal supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra gathered in Bangkok Wednesday to demand that he quit office and call fresh elections.
Police said about 25,000 protesters were left Thursday outside the house of a royal aide whom they accuse of orchestrating the 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin, as well as at Abhisit's office and Bangkok's royal plaza.
The demonstrators later vowed to target the coastal resort town of Pattaya, where leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and partners, including China and Japan, are due to meet.
"If we have to shut down the whole town then we have to and it's a warning to friendly countries that the meeting may not happen," protest leader Nattawut Saikuar told reporters in Bangkok.
Security has been beefed up in Pattaya for the April 10-12 meet since Thaksin's so-called "Red Shirts" attacked Abhisit's motorcade in the town on Tuesday, smashing one of its windows.
The summit has already been postponed from December, when protesters opposed to the previous, pro-Thaksin government shut down Bangkok's airports in a major blow to Thailand's economy and its international prestige.
Those protests ended when a court forced Thaksin's allies from government, allowing British-born Abhisit to come to power but triggering a furious reaction from the billionaire's supporters.
Abhisit has reassured foreign leaders there would be no further disruption to the summit and remains defiant.
"I will not resign," he told reporters in Bangkok before travelling to Pattaya. "This is not the game, they cannot play like this... If they are sincere, the government is open to political reform."
Around 5,000 police and 2,000 soldiers have deployed to the resort, officials said.
In Bangkok, tensions escalated Thursday when about 100 taxi drivers sympathetic to Thaksin left their vehicles and blocked a key intersection in response to an appeal on the Red Shirt movement's radio station.
Traffic jams several kilometres long built up at the capital's Victory Monument. The government said it was negotiating with the cabbies but would use lifting equipment to remove the vehicles if the talks failed.
Hundreds of protesters also fanned out towards the headquarters of Abhisit's Democrat Party, the Constitutional Court -- which was responsible for toppling the previous government -- and the Foreign Ministry.
In an incident early Thursday, a woman appeared to drive her car at protesters before escaping, causing one minor injury, but the protests in the capital have so far been peaceful.
The "Red Shirts" have issued a 24-hour ultimatum for the resignation of former premier General Prem Tinsulanonda, the top adviser to the king, and two other members of the privy council.
The finger-pointing at King Bhumibol Adulyadej's inner circle broke a major taboo in Thailand, where the monarchy is revered, and fuelled the risk of what Abhisit described this week as a civil war.
Thaksin gave a speech to the protest rally via videolink after nightfall Wednesday, urging his loyal supporters to keep the protest going.
"All brothers, can you wait for just three days? Invite all of your friends and relatives to come here. Teenagers, stop wandering in the shopping mall... your future is here," he told the crowd.
The nation remains deeply divided between Thaksin's mainly poor followers and his foes in Bangkok's traditional power centres of the palace, military and bureaucracy.