BANGKOK, May 7, 2009 (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thursday he would invoke the country's internal security act to place the army in charge of guarding a regional summit rescheduled for next month.

Abhisit said the special measures were needed to avoid a repeat of the mayhem at April's meeting, when anti-government protesters stormed the meeting of foreign leaders and forced them to head home early.

Thailand has said it will reconvene the summit of leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six key dialogue partners in mid-June on the southern tourist island of Phuket.

The act will put the military rather than the police in charge of security, after the police allowed the previous meeting in the coastal city of Pattaya to be overrun.

Abhisit declared a state of emergency in Pattaya and surrounding Chonburi province on April 11 while foreign leaders - some of whom had to be evacuated from the venue by helicopter - were ferried out of the kingdom.

The following day he invoked emergency rule in Bangkok when protests by so-called "Red Shirts" loyal to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra spread to the capital, leaving two people dead and 123 injured.

Abhisit said the foreign ministry would explain all security procedures for the Phuket summit to participating countries.

The summit groups the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, along with those of ASEAN members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Abhisit said he was confident all leaders would attend despite April's chaos, except for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose country is in the middle of month-long elections.

"They may have to wait and consider the situation for a while longer but every country wanted us to quickly reconvene the meeting because there are many issues still pending discussion," Abhisit said.