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BANGKOK: The secretary general of Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN said Friday that he had travelled to Thailand to assess whether the kingdom was still able to host a summit as protests shutter the main airports.
Speaking by phone to AFP as he made his way overland to Bangkok, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) head Surin Pitsuwan - a former Thai foreign minister - said the final decision lay with the Thai government.
"Part of my trip here is to discuss the ASEAN summit with the Thai government. I have to listen to the Thai government first," he said.
"The Thai government should make a decision on its readiness and the internal situation."
Surin has been in Singapore, and said he was travelling overland from Penang, Malaysia, which is near the Thai border.
Current ASEAN chair Thailand has insisted it will go ahead with the December summit in the northern city of Chiang Mai, even as anti-government protesters stepped up a six-month campaign to topple the prime minister.
They swarmed the main Suvarnabhumi airport on Tuesday and shut it down, and on Thursday, the smaller Don Mueang was also forced to shut its doors when protesters surrounded it, cutting almost all air travel in and out of Bangkok.
Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam have raised the possibility of postponing the ASEAN summit due to the worsening political crisis in the country.
In a statement late Thursday out of Singapore, the ASEAN secretariat said Surin would "clarify this matter with Thailand."
Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat declared emergency rule at the two airports on Thursday to try to rein in the protests, after holding a special cabinet meeting in Chiang Mai to discuss the escalating turmoil.
He has rejected calls by the army chief to hold new elections.
Thailand announced in late October that the ASEAN summit would be moved from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, a government stronghold.
The government said it was because of northern Thailand's cooler climate, but the anti-government protests are believed to be a key factor.
- AFP/yb
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