Thailand to ban protests during Apec summit

5.00am

BANGKOK - Thailand will ban protests during an Asia-Pacific summit attended by US President George W. Bush, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and other world leaders later this month, the country's prime minister said yesterday.

"I would like to ask all NGOs (non-governmental organisations) not to hold demonstrations during the Apec meeting," Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on his weekly radio programme.

Thailand will host the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit on October 20-21. Thaksin said the ban on protests by local and foreign groups was for security reasons.

"I would like to urge all Thais not to co-operate or join any foreign demonstration during the summit," he said.

Thai officials said yesterday members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, banned in China, were in the country and would be ordered to leave.

Falun Gong members staged protests during last year's Apec meeting in Mexico.

"Two to three key members of the Falun Gong religious cult have entered Thailand to protest against China," Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha told reporters.

"We name this group as a warning to other groups not to indulge in behaviour which may be detrimental to Thailand," he said.

Thailand is mounting its biggest security operation during the summit, with thousands of soldiers and police assigned to summit venues, the airport, and hotels.

There have been persistent suggestions that Thai security is not up to the job of keeping the leaders safe, but Thaksin has declared the country ready for any threat.

Just this week, a Thai newspaper quoted an unidentified police source as saying the hunt was on for six surface-to-air missiles believed to have been smuggled in from Cambodia.

Thaksin said the rumour had turned out to be just that.

Thailand is surrounded by formerly-war-torn countries and is believed to be a transit point for arms smuggling to rebels in various Asian nations, including Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

In August, a joint CIA-Thai operation north of Bangkok led to the capture of Hambali, believed to be the operations chief of the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiah and al Qaeda's main man in the region.

- REUTERS