A state of emergency declared in a Thai beach resort where a major summit of Asia Pacific leaders was being held, has been lifted.
The meeting was postponed indefinitely on Saturday after anti-government protestors swarmed into a convention centre in Pattaya where the meeting was being held.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key was among leaders affected by the chaos - he never made it to the resort and spent Saturday at Bangkok airport and is now heading to his next engagement in China.
Other leaders were evacuated from the venue by helicopter.
Mr Key says the New Zealand team was always aware that the summit carried a high security risk, but was not prepared to be the first to pull out.
Despite assurances, he says it's clear the Thai government did not have the security situation in hand.
The summit had been intended to bring together the 10 members of ASEAN (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, to discuss regional responses to the global economic crisis.
Mr Key says the next scheduled meeting could still be held in October, but is unlikely to be in Thailand as originally planned.
The meeting had already been postponed from last year after protestors blockaded international and domestic airports in Bangkok.
