John Key

Pattaya, Thailand, April 11 NZPA - The future of the East Asian Summit in Thailand this weekend has been thrown into doubt after protesters managed to postpone a meeting between Asean nations and China.

Thousands of red-clad protesters have descended upon the Thai beach resort of Paggaya where Prime Minister John Key is due to arrive in a few hours.

Summit organisers have postponed the meeting between foreign ministers saying protesters were acting in a dangerous manner.

One local news agency said there had been running clashes between supporters of the government and those who backed the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

There has been no comment yet on whether tomorrow's East Asia Summit will be affected by the protests.

Yesterday the protesters worked their way around blockades to block the entrance to the summit's venue in a series of peaceful, but carefully organised manoeuvres intended to force the current Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign.

There were reports that they were to be joined by thousands more protesters who earlier managed to bring the Thai capital of Bangkok to a halt.

Yesterday, after a series of talks with military and police officials the protesters dispersed but said they would come back over the weekend to demand the current government should stand down.

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban told media that the summit would be going ahead and officials were negotiating with protest leaders to allow access to the summit.

There was a heavy police and military presence around the summit's venue, but it was clear neither side was seeking confrontation as the protesters allowed vans, conference staff and media to pass through the authority's and protesters lines.

The supporters of Mr Shinawatra had been warned a state of emergency will be declared if protests turn violent and disrupt the summit.

Mr Thaksin, now in exile, was ousted in a 2006 coup. His reconstituted party regained power after elections, which sparked months of protests last year that closed airports in Bangkok, and forced the postponement of the scheduled summit until now.

Now his supporters are demanding new elections and the return of the former prime minister

The East Asia Summit brings together the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand for discussions mainly about trade and economic issues.

While the political turmoil in Thailand threatens to grab the headlines it is the global economic turmoil which will most concern the leaders from the ten Asean nations as well as Korea, China, Japan, India and Australia.

Mr Key told NZPA before leaving for Asia that plans to tackle the financial crisis and resulting recession would top the agenda.

"You would expect the conversation to be dominated by the global economy, some of the players would have recently returned from the G20 meeting so it will be an opportunity to exchange some views," Mr Key said.

The G20 nations put together an ambitious rescue plan involving trillions of dollars bailing out financial institutions and helping out less developed nations cope with the fallout.

After the summit ends on Sunday, Mr Key flies out to China for his first visit to the Asian economic giant.

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