Thailand security forces are ramping up their efforts ahead of Prime Minister John Key's and other regional leaders' arrival in the country for a high level summit.
The 10 Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) are meeting in the Thai seaside resort of Hua Hin today before they are joined by the leaders of China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand over the weekend for the East Asia Summit.
Every intersection and main road is patrolled by soldiers and armed police inside the town, and outside there are more manning road blocks stopping and checking all cars three times before they get into Hua Hin.
The Government says there are 18,000 army or police in the area, other reports put it as high as 20,000 or 30,000, and they are pledging to enforce newly enacted security regulations which essentially ban protests and create curfews around the summit and also in Bangkok.
It is all to stop a repeat of embarrassing protests which disrupted the last attempt to host the summit in April.
Then security forces seemed unable, or unwilling, to stop opponents of the current Thai government from smashing their way into the venue and forcing many Asian leaders to be airlifted out of the area.
Mr Key did not even get out of Bangkok Airport before the summit was called off.
The so-called "red-shirts" who disrupted the last meeting say they have no intention of disrupting the summit, unless something happens to justify it.
Today Asean leaders will review their progress in creating an single economic community covering the region.
Its six main countries -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- are meant to reach free trade status between themselves by 2010.
Those six countries signed AFTA (Asean Free Trade Agreement) in 1993 with the pledge to phase out tariffs by next year, with poorer members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam reaching that point by 2015.
Asean economic ministers yesterday praised the progress that had been made, but it is clear that while the politicians are talking free trade, many are uneasy.
Thai farmers are already unhappy and around the region there are many resisting the removals of tariffs and other barriers, especially in sensitive areas such as rice and other crops.
The growing influence and power of China is also clear at the summit with it putting in billions of dollars to promote infrastructure investment and financial stability.
After arriving in Thailand tonight Mr Key will meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
The East Asia Summit takes place on Sunday with plans for a pan-Asian trading bloc to rival the European Union on the agenda.
Asean has already signed trade deals with New Zealand, Australia and other countries in the proposed bloc, but it wants go further still to form a "Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia", known as Cepea.
It is estimated that tariff elimination and the reduction of other trade barriers in Cepea would lift New Zealand's GDP by $500 million, or 2 percent.
East Asia Summit countries currently make up 52 percent of New Zealand's exports or $28 billion in 2008.
After attending the summit over the weekend Mr Key travels to Malaysia for the signing of a trade deal with that country and then on to Japan for talks with the new government there and a series of business and tourism promotions.
He returns to New Zealand on November 2 after attending the All Blacks Bledisloe Cup match against Australia, which is being played in Tokyo.
(Ian Llewellyn travelled to the East Asia Summit with the assistance of the Asia Foundation)
