Security effort for Asian summit

Thai authorities are determined to ensure no protests disrupt the summit

Thousands of security personnel have been deployed around the Thai beach resort of Cha-am ahead of a summit of Asian leaders.

The meeting of member states of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) is due to begin on Friday.

The meeting was originally supposed to be held last April but was cancelled after thousands of protesters broke into the venue, at another Thai resort.

The economy, human rights and climate change are some issues on the agenda.

Special powers

Some 18,000 security personnel have thrown a cordon around the meeting venue in Cha-am, some 200km (miles) south of Bangkok, say reports.

Another 18,000 are said to be on alert, and special powers to impose curfews and restrict freedom of movement have been granted in case of protests.

Roadblocks have been set up and local fishermen even prevented from going out to sea, reported AP news agency.

Correspondents say Thai authorities were humiliated when protesters forced through thin police lines at the last Asean summit in the Thai resort of Pattaya last April - forcing the whole event to be cancelled.

Over recent years the country has been frequently paralysed by protests by supporters and opponents of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Rights body

This weekend's summit of leaders from the 10 South-East Asian member nations will be followed by talks with non-member states, including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Among the issues on the agenda are:

• The regional economy, amid plans to expand regional trade and investment in particular with China, and in the longer term the goal of establishing an EU-style regional community

• Climate change - with a declaration backing this December's global talks in Copenhagen expected to be issued

• Disaster management

• Food security.

A new human rights body - the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights - will also be officially launched on Friday.

The long-awaited body is in part a response to criticisms that the region is soft on rights abuses in such nations as Burma, say correspondents.

But observers have queried whether it will have sufficient powers to make a real difference.