A meeting of ASEAN leaders (Association of South East Asia Nations) begins today in Pattaya and the Thai beach resort has become the new focus of attention for the red-shirted anti-government demonstrators. Thai television has been showing coverage of hundreds of protesters who have gathered outside the Royal Cliff Beach Resort where the political meeting is being held. Last night, police road checks were placed around Pattaya to try and prevent protesters disrupting the meeting. However, Pattaya is home to a large number of people who originate from the north-east region of Thailand many of whom are sympathetic to the red shirt cause and so the protests there are no real surprise. The Bangkok protests also continue today, but so far on a smaller scale than yesterday. Nevertheless, the ease with which the Bangkok taxi drivers could bring traffic chaos yesterday must be a worrying development for Abhist and his government as the demand for fresh elections mounts.
Last night, Prime Minister Abhisit returned to Bangkok to address the nation via television. He again said the government would not bow to the protests, but he did declare that today would be a national holiday. The announcement was quite late in the evening and commercial banks said they would still be open today and so would the Thai stock exchange. Many government offices will be closed and some individual companies may respond by letting employees commence the Songkran holidays early.
The official Songkran New Year holiday is next week from April 13-15 and the government will be hoping that the red shirt protests lose impetus as demonstrators return home to be with family over the holiday period. The pre-Songkran period is the busiest time of year for travel in Thailand with rail and bus services packed as workers return home to be with family.
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