T

he 15th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit kicked off in Hua Hin, Thailand, Friday with five of 10 heads of state pulling a no-show for the opening ceremony of the three-day event.

Among the absentees was Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was in Jakarta to chair the first Cabinet meeting of his second term in office.

Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said the President, who will depart for the summit Saturday, and other heads of state would bring up a number of issues, such as connectivity, food, energy security, the global economic and financial crisis, climate change and disaster management.

"These issues are significant and relevant," Dino said Friday at the Presidential Palace.

"During his stay in Hua Hin, Pak SBY will attend the 12th ASEAN+3 Summit, a seventh summit with India and the 4th East Asia Summit."

Yudhoyono will return home Monday, Dino said.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was hosting an official visit by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, while Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had to present the state budget to parliament.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines was reportedly held up by Typhoon Lupit, while Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah was already in Hua Hin but could not attend the opening because he was not feeling well.

The first day of the heavily guarded summit - Thai authorities deployed 36,000 military and police personnel to safeguard the event - was marked by a walkout from activists in a meeting, following a rejection by the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Singapore to meet them.

Yuyun Wahyuningrum, from the Asia Forum, who was to represent Indonesia, said Thai Foreign Ministry officials told them Thursday the leaders would not meet five of the people nominated by the groups.

Upon their arrival at the designated venue, none were allowed to speak, except Surichai Wangaeo of Chulalongkorn University, who was initially appointed as the moderator of the meeting with ASEAN leaders.

"The representatives were further shocked to learn that Singapore and Myanmar had selected substitutes from government-sponsored agencies," she said.

"We strongly feel the rejection of our democratically selected representatives is a rejection of both civil society and the democratic process," she said on the walkout by representatives from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

The 10 delegates were selected during the three-day ASEAN Peoples Forum/ASEAN Civil Society Conference on Oct. 18-20.

The dialogue between the 10 ASEAN leaders and civil society groups was introduced during the 14th summit here in February, which was embroiled in controversy after leaders of Myanmar and Cambodia refused to meet with representatives from their respective countries.