Thai security forces destroy motorcycle near conference

---

A Thai military police guiding the traffic near the hotel where the meeting of ASEAN Regional Forum was being held Thursday.

PHUKET, (Thailand), July 23 (AP): Security forces guarding an Asian security conference on this resort island Thursday destroyed a motorcycle they suspected was loaded with explosives. It was later determined that the bike was not armed, an army official said.
The bike, whose owner had abandoned it because it had a flat tire, was found about 300 yards (meters) from the main venue of the ASEAN Regional Forum on Thursday, said Army Lt. Gen. Kanit Sapitkak. Foreign ministers and other officials of more than 30 countries, including US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, were meeting there.
Kanit said there were indications of explosives on the motorcycle after it was sniffed by dogs, although it was eventually found not to be armed. Security forces destroyed it in a controlled explosion that could be heard throughout the conference area. "We didn't want to take any chances," he said.
Rumors later circulated that some explosives had been found on the motorcycle but these could not be confirmed.
Police blocked all traffic around the conference venue for more than an hour, preventing delegates and journalists from entering or leaving the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket Hotel.
Thailand mounted a massive security operation for the conference following the storming of a major Asian conference in the seaside resort of Pattaya in April by anti-government demonstrators. Asian leaders were forced to flee the site in helicopters and speedboats.
The incident was a massive embarrassment for the host Thais, and the country's leaders vowed it would not be repeated in Phuket.