Protesters mass in Bangkok

BANGKOK // Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said an Asian summit would go ahead as planned in Thailand this week as demonstrators gathered in Bangkok for a mass rally with the objective of toppling him. Police said that by mid-morning around 30,000 demonstrators were at Government House and Royal Plaza nearby. The organisers, supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006, say 300,000 are expected.

The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship has besieged Mr Abhisit's office at Government House since March 26. So far there has been no violence but security was tight today. "There's a group of people wanting to create chaos, but the government will do everything to restrain them," Mr Abhisit said in an interview on Channel 3 television. "If there's rioting, we will have to do something. I can affirm there will be no violence starting from the government's side."

Yesterday his car was attacked by red-shirted, pro-Thaksin supporters after a cabinet meeting in the resort town of Pattaya, which will also host a summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other Asian countries from Friday. Mr Abhisit insisted there was no threat to the summit. "There won't be anything like what happened with my motorcade ... Every spot will have strict security. As for yesterday's chaos, it's because I wanted to travel normally, without disturbing people," he told the television interviewer.

The ASEAN summit was delayed from late last year because of a previous bout of political unrest, when a pro-Thaksin government was in power, and Mr Abhisit's administration has billed the event as a sign Thailand was getting back to normal. "It is going to be a nerve-racking day for the market, and for obvious reasons the prime factor to watch here is the mass rally," said Chakkrit Charoenmethachai, a senior analyst with Far East Securities.

* Reuters