They were meant to be in Thailand to discuss ways out of the global economic crisis, instead Asian leaders had to be airlifted to safety.
Helicopters whisked stranded VIPs from the roof of the summit venue in the resort of Pattaya.
Al Jazeera's Tony Cheng reports on the latest blow to Thailand's compromised political reputation as anti-government protesters breached tight security to break into the building, forcing the ASEAN meeting to end before it ever began.
