Hua Hin to host Asean Summit
The 14th Asean Summit will be held from February 27 to March 1 in Hua Hin. The summit will be limited to the 10 Asean leaders, while follow-up meetings with dialogue partners will be held in April. The date and venue of the summit has been changed more than once, due to internal political chaos. It had already been postponed when the PAD protestors (known as the yellow shirts) forced the airports to shut down for a week. Now it’s the “red shirts” who oppose the government and who threaten to jeopardise the summit.
So, what will be the consequences for the tourists and expats living in Cha-Am? First of all, we recommend that you avoid Hua Hin altogether for the last week of February. It’s already a nightmare in normal circumstances to drive or park a car in Hua Hin, but during the summit it will probably be impossible. Security will be pretty tight, with fear of anti-government demonstrations and all the usual threats. It means more roads closed, parking not allowed, etc. Many leaders, staff, journalists, police and security will have to travel by road from Bangkok to Hua Hin, as Hua Hin airport is not big enough to accommodate big airplanes, so you can expect that Phetkasem road will be closed quite often to give way to the official cars and buses.
What about Cha-Am? Given the fact that Cha-Am is not far from Hua Hin and it has much more space, it will probably be used as a base for many journalists and staff. All hotels between Cha-Am and Hua Hin will probably be full, so make sure you book your room in advance if you plan to visit during the summit.