Heat, wardrobe malfunctions and security: Behind the scenes of PM Jacinda Ardern’s trip to Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand

The Prime Minister’s sandwich of summits and travels to Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand concluded on Saturday as Apec wound up. Behind all the meetings with leaders and talk about global events at the East Asia Summit and Apec were the usual hiccups and lighter moments. Claire Trevett presents five.

No sweat:

Adjusting to the heat and humidity of Cambodia after Wellington’s climate took some doing. During a standup outside in Phnom Penh, the media melted into pools but Ardern did not have a drop of sweat on her. Asked why, Ardern revealed she rarely sweated – but was prone to turning red in the heat.

PM Jacinda Ardern inspects the guard of honour with Vietnam's PM Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi. Photo / Thomas Manch

The multi-terrain surfaces Ardern was confronted with posed a larger problem for the PM, whose heels had to take her from red carpets to slippery marble floors, cobblestones and an orchard ramble to inspect Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s pomelo trees.

At the President’s Palace in Hanoi for her formal welcome, Ardern caught her foot a few times on the bumps in the red carpet – and later noted it was difficult to simultaneously conduct the inspection of the troops while also trying to keep an eye on her footing.

PM’s revenge on press secretary:

Prime Minister’s press secretaries are supposed to be behind the scenes characters, but Zach Vickery was not so lucky. Vickery was the culprit who broke the eyes on Ardern’s stuffed toy kiwifruit, presented to her by Zespri on an earlier trip to Japan.

Zespri organised a replacement to present to Ardern while in Vietnam: this time with a helmet on it to protect it from further run-ins with Vickery.

As punishment for his sins, Ardern made Vickery pose with her for photos, despite Vickery noting that becoming the news was not exactly one of his KPIs.

PM Jacinda Ardern and press secretary Zach Vickery with a Zespri kiwifruit in Vietnam. Photo / Claire Trevett

Things did not get better for Vickery after that point: he took off his shoes to walk through the pomelo orchard - revealing holes in his socks.

Vickery followed up at Apec in Bangkok with a wardrobe fail. Rushing into a room to try to take photos of Ardern meeting Canada’s Justin Trudeau, the heel on his shoe fell off leaving it flapping about.

The malfunction meant Vickery had failed to get the money shot: the photo of Ardern and Trudeau hugging. Superglue was obtained, and Vickery stuck the heel back on just in time to go to Ardern’s meeting with Xi with a vaguely intact shoe. Ardern was reportedly more concerned to discover Vickery’s shoes were pleather.

There was a happy ending: the shoes were thrown away and Vickery invested in a new pair while in Bangkok.

Sexy Lady:

The gala dinner for the East Asia Summit in Cambodia had an extensive entertainment menu as well as food menu. The event went into the small hours. Most of the musical performances were cultural – a Fan Friendship Dance, the National Flower Dance. But it also included a stirred rendition of The Commodores Sexy Lady.

It is unclear whether it was aimed at Ardern – she was the only woman leader at the EAS and the later Apec Summit, although US Vice President Kamala Harris offered some company for her there.

Ardern admitted security at the events still sometimes did not realise she was a leader, even five years later. There were occasions in which she was shoved as she moved about – the difference her five years of experience had taught was that she now shoved back.

There was also a surprise meeting with another former female leader: Philippines president Bongbong Marcos turned up to meet Ardern with former President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

He told Ardern he often travelled with her. Ardern replied that it would be less common for her to travel with the previous leader of New Zealand, given he was her opposition.

The long wave goodbye:

The media van was late for the PM’s motorcade after Ardern’s meeting with Cambodia’s PM Hun Sen – forcing Ardern to take off leaving the media behind.

The decision to leave came after a prolonged and rather awkward period of Ardern and Sen smiling at each other through the windows and waving, in expectation of the departure.

Ardern had been told that Sen could not leave his farewell spot at the doorway until she had driven away.

The other explanation for wanting Ardern’s motorcade gone turned up seconds after Ardern took off: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ motorcade arrived. Handily, Sen was already in place to greet him.

The great interruptions:

The usual format for one-on-one meetings with other leaders is for the media to be allowed in at the start to capture the “grip and grin” photo and a few opening remarks by the two leaders.

PM Jacinda Ardern meets China's President Xi Jinping while in Bangkok for Apec 2022. Photo / Thomas Manch

On at least five occasions the hosting leader delivered his statement, but the media were moved out while Ardern was still mid-speech. The first and most dramatic was in Cambodia for Ardern’s meeting with its Prime Minister Hun Sen. Ardern had barely started when the officials moved in on the media, physically grabbing some to yank them out.

After this happened twice, Ardern changed tack a bit. In Hanoi, when she saw the officials start to move toward the media, she started talking faster and her statement ended just as journalists got to the doors. Alas, the tactic did not work every time. Media were moved out at the start of her meeting with China’s president Xi Jinping just as Ardern started talking about the differences of opinion.

Ardern was generous enough to suggest it was simply protocol.