BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand's government announced a complete ban on protests on the southern resort island of Phuket during a regional summit that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to attend.
The cabinet endorsed the decision to prevent a repeat of April's chaos, when anti-government protesters loyal to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra stormed a major gathering of Asian leaders in the Thai resort of Pattaya.
"I am telling all parties.... No kind of rally is allowed in Phuket. We will not designate an area for demonstration, we will not allow protest representatives to show up or mount a road blockade -- even peaceful rallies are not allowed," defence minister General Prawit Wongsuwon told reporters.
Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva had already invoked the internal security act for Phuket and an area five kilometres (three miles) around the tourist island between July 10 and 24 for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.
The declaration allows the military to assist the police at the meeting, which groups foreign ministers from the 10 ASEAN members plus 16 dialogue partners including the United States, China, Japan and South Korea.
The army are also authorised to impose a curfew, block roads, ban the carrying of weapons and censure the media, among other measures.
Pro-Thaksin "Red Shirts" stormed the venue of ASEAN's Pattaya meeting on April 12 and forced several foreign leaders to flee. Two days of deadly rioting ensued in Bangkok and a state of emergency was declared in the capital.
The leaders' summit has now been postponed until October. It was originally due to be held last December but was repeatedly delayed and moved because of ongoing political turmoil in Thailand.
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