Foreign Correspondence

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Thai Police Arrest Protest Leader
By JAMES HOOKWAY

PATTAYA, Thailand – Thailand's humiliated government arrested the leader of protesters who broke through
a military cordon Saturday and smashed their way through glass doors at a regional economic summit.

The country's prime minister vowed further crackdowns as the demonstrators regrouped in the
capital for renewed rallies amid rising fears that Thailand was on the brink of a deep political crisis.

Arisman Pongruengrong, who spearheaded Saturday's demonstrations, was taken into custody and detained at the
headquarters of Thailand's Border Patrol Police on Bangkok's outskirts, police Maj. Gen. Supon Pansua said.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva vowed swift legal action against the
protesters who stormed the venue of the East Asian Summit in the beach resort of Pattaya.

The invasion of the summit will likely prove a major embarrassment for Thailand, which is still trying to recover its international reputation after a rival set of protesters laid siege to Bangkok's airports for a week last year, stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers and helping force the downfall of the previous government. Leaders from China, Japan and South Korea were left huddled in a hotel while the leaders of other countries were evacuated by helicopter from the summit site as thousands of soldiers stood guard.

Mr. Abhisit canceled the summit and declared -- and later lifted -- a state of emergency in Pattaya and the surrounding Chonburi area, where the summit is being held.


Supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra
battle with pro-government supporters at the ASEAN
Summit in Pattaya, Thailand on April 11, 2009.

Regional leaders, including the prime ministers of China and Japan, were scheduled to meet here this weekend
to coordinate their response to the global financial crisis and discuss a widening of regional free-trade blocs.

But the economic agenda was swamped by the political divisions which are now threatening to break Thailand, the host country, apart. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political-science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, suggested that Mr. Abhisit's position as prime minister was now "untenable" after up to a thousand red-garbed demonstrators streamed into the lavish Pattaya convention center.

Mr. Thitinan said a crackdown on the red-shirt protesters could inflame the protesters further. "They could call for an
uprising in northern Thailand, where they are popular. That would be unprecedented and terrifying," he said.

Thailand has been locked in political crisis since a military coup ousted populist autocrat Thaksin Shinawatra from the prime minister's post in 2006. Mr. Abhisit took power in December after the military helped piece together a governing coalition in the aftermath of the airport siege.

The current crop of protesters say Mr. Abhisit is a puppet of Thailand's armed forces and bureaucratic elites, who have controlled the country for decades and many of whom are implacably opposed to Mr. Thaksin and his populist policies. Mr. Thaksin is in self-exile, avoiding imprisonment after being convicted for corruption last year. He denies the charge, saying it is part of a political conspiracy to destroy his reputation.

Recently, he raised the political temperature here by accusing the chief adviser to King Bhumibol Adulyadej of helping to plot the coup that unseated him – a bold move in a country where any criticism of anybody associated with the revered monarchy is extremely provocative.


Thai Protesters Storm ASEAN Summit .. video .. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123951889694811439.html# .. 0:44
Anti-government protesters breach security and swarm into the media center where a summit of Asian leaders was underway.

The day before his arrest, protest leader Arisman Pongruengrong, a former pop singer, told a press conference inside the summit venue that the government will now have to listen to the demonstrators' demands, which include the resignations of Mr. Abhisit and three advisers to King Bhumibol, as well as a call for fresh elections.

And, in a sign of more trouble could break out over the next few days, around 2,000 red-shirted protesters pressing for a radical overhaul of Thailand's democratic system clashed with approximately 200 blue-wearing royalists about 1 mile from the summit site. The two sides threw rocks and powerful firecrackers, startling several foreign tourists sunning themselves on beaches nearby. The royalists, many armed with clubs and bearing portraits of King Bhumibol later retreated behind an army cordon. The day before, royalist activists pelted antigovernment demonstrators with stones.

Thai media published pictures of a man closely resembling Newin Chidchob dressed in blue and helping to supervise the blue-shirted protesters. Mr. Newin, who couldn't be reached for comment, was formerly a strong ally of Mr. Thaksin but defected to help Mr. Abhisit form a government in December.

Jakrapob Penkair, a red-shirt leader, condemned the government and armed forces for allegedly allowing the weekend's clashes with the blue-shirted militia to take place. In a televised on address on the Thaksin-funded D-Station satellite network, he tried to explain the demonstrators' actions to the United Nations and foreign media. "The Thai people have lost patience with the aristocrats," he said, and added that the protests would continue.

Mr. Jakrapob was conspicuously dressed in a dark blue suit and maroon neck-tie, as if to show he was ready to step into Mr. Abhisit's shoes.

Other protest leaders said they argued against forcing their way into the summit venue, but local activists disregarded them. The impromptu nature of Saturday's invasion generated fears that even their leaders will find it difficult to contain the demonstrations. In addition, the ideological gap between the red-shirts and their opponents is now so wide that finding some common ground to help ease the crisis will be deeply challenging.

"The two sides need to talk, but they are so far apart," Mr. Thitinan, the political science professor said.

Mr. Thitinan said his biggest fear now was that more royalist protesters would mobilize to confront the red-shirts in what would be a low-grade civil war. "A right-wing backlash is a big risk now. There are people who will do anything to defend the monarchy from any perceived threat and they may have the support of some in the military," Mr. Thitinan said.

Despite the brawls and explosions, many tourists near Pattaya's beaches were unaware of the drama unfolding at the town's convention center, which is located at the top of a hill in the center of town.

"State of emergency? What do you mean 'state of emergency'?" said Raymond Sturgess, a 39-year-old electrician from Middlesborough, England as he examined the welts of a fresh tattoo on his upper arm. "The only emergency around here will be if I don't get a beer soon."

Investors, though, have been anxiously watching the political temperature rise in Thailand over the past week and now are facing an uncomfortable few days: Bangkok's financial markets are closed until Thursday for Thailand's new year holiday.

The protesters, meanwhile, later dispersed and many are now heading back to Bangkok. Their colleagues have besieged the main government complex in the capital for over a week, forcing Mr. Abhisit and his cabinet to meet in a variety of different locations.
—Phisanu Phromchanya contributed to this article

Write to James Hookway at [e-mail]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123951889694811439.html