Home 
BANGKOK -- Thailand is ready to host a December summit of Southeast Asian nations despite further disruption Monday as thousands of anti-government protesters again blockaded parliament, officials said.
The upper and lower houses were due Monday to meet to consider legislation related to the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), being held in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai next month.
But instead of reaching agreement on pacts likely to be signed at the meeting, the house speaker postponed the session as up to 18,000 protesters surrounded parliament and sealed off all the entrances.
The session has been rescheduled for December 8 and 9.
"Thailand is ready to host the summit which will begin from mid December," Thai foreign minister Tharit Charungvat told reporters. "Every country is confident that Thailand can host the meeting."
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan -- a former Thai foreign minister -- called Monday's protest an "internal affair."
Surin said Thailand could go ahead and host the ASEAN summit even if the papers and agreements were not adopted by parliament, but said it would not reflect well on the chair country.
He confirmed that United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would attend meetings on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit on December 17 and 18.
Anti-government protesters have been rallying in Bangkok since May. They are trying to topple the elected government, accusing it of being a corrupt puppet of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
On October 7, two protesters were killed and more than 500 people injured when police and protesters clashed outside parliament.
Thousands of supporters of the so-called People's Alliance for Democracy on Monday again surrounded parliament and also headed to the finance ministry and police headquarters, although no clashes were reported.
Thailand announced in late October that the ASEAN summit would be moved from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The government said it was because of the cooler climate up north, but the anti-government protests are believed to be a key factor.
