Chulalongkorn Hospital Evacuated After Stormed By Red-Shirts

[SICA]

Let's keep things in perspective pls. Why is any of this worse than what we've seen very recently, with people getting shot and grenades going off and people dying? I sense a lot of fabricated indignation; the Reds are jittery, they KNOW they can get their faces blown off at any time by government (or rogue army) snipers.. It's chaotic, someone thinks they see military in the building directly overlooking their site.. It happens to be a hospital, but better safe than sorry.

Good of Dr. Weng to apologize though, respect.

This apology is consistent with their policy of denial and nothing else - their actions have been consistent with those of a large mob of criminals and the government has to take action NOW to stop the anarchy. If the reds should win, Thaksin will return and the country will face total anarchy.

Curious ... have the reds expressed any kind of remorse or condemned the grenade attack or bombings going on in BKK ?

No, they just put it down to 'Fake Reds' and that makes everything ok. Especially according to Winnie!

To me it seems as though the Red leaders have no involvement in anything other than standing on the stage when they feel like it. All of the problems are down to 'Fake Reds', 'The Government', 'Men in Black' or anybody else they seem to want to introduce to this at any point.

[stingray]

I hope the reds are very proud of what they have achieved.

My late father in law spent time in that hospital for cancer treatment. Knowing how ill he was, my thoughts go out to all the patients who now have to be moved because of this reckless act of terrorism.

Coming close to where all embassies will be telling their citizens to return home since it is clear NOBODY is safe in Thailand anymore due to the red mob.

Go home where? My homecoutnry Switzerland is occupied by Ex Jugos, Arabs, Albanians, Turks, Nigerians, Afgans, Maroks, other Arabs, and all that kind of peaple. There is no home!

[ETatBKK]

The reason the Army/government is waiting is:

1) violently cracking down on the reds will give them sympathy and more votes, the reason the redshirt leaders took over center bangkok is to provoke the government into doing this; that failed and now they are getting desperate and doing things like ransacking hospitals.

2) not cracking down makes everyone get tired of, or hate the redshirts, which start to look like a bunch of thugs, not victims or democracy activists.

3) The economic impact of the occupation is really not as bad as it looks, ritzy hotels and places like Gaysorn are possessions of just a few rich people, not the rich class altogether..most Thai peoples economic life hardly revolve around Siam Paragon, it's just 3 malls and a few hotels, bkk has more ritzy malls and hotels just down the bts or a short drive away. Tourists soon realize that the situation here really isn't that dangerous and there are many better places in Thailand for them to go.

4) cracking down too quickly increases the chance of civilian deaths because the reshirts hide armed men with grenades and guns amounst the crowd and use human sheilds, they then scream "murderers" in other words they want the police to massacre the unarmed civilians because it helps them politically.

5) The longer the police army wait, the more protesters go home, there's not that many reds down there now, i was there 2 days ago and moral seems to be low, people getting bored, again thats why they start getting desperate and doing stupid things like raiding hospitals or trying to break out of their protest zone-which failed.

6) in another month of standoff the red shirts will be more willing to negotiate a more reasonable time frame for new elections.

Couldnt agree more...

somewhat agree ! AND

quicker the crackdown, certainly more violence with red :-(

longer we wait, more threatening of innocents !!

[gl9999]

These fuc_king Red Shirt criminals need to be stopped.

At the same time, I'm getting sick of Abhisit's inaction. Everyday he sits on his ass doing nothing and making empty promises, these Red Shirt animals grow bolder. Crackdown on these people now or, as much as I hate to say it, surrender to their demands. Doing nothing is making things worse daily.

[dobadoy]

I posted this on the other thread, but am re-posting it here, as I would welcome thoughts on this:

I have a feeling (confirmed by Weng's "apology" this morning), that we have seen the last of the violence. The Vibhavadi Road incident was a turning point. The Reds are losing the propaganda war. Thaksin's confiscated money has today be transferred out of his and his kids frozen accounts and to the Ministry of Finance.

The battle is over. It's now all about face-saving. How do both sides end this without looking like they lost? My bet is a third party (I don't mean the King) will have to come in and negotiate. I doubt it will be EU/UN because that would be unacceptable to the gov't. Must be some respected and neutral person within Thai life, if there is any left?

Anybody?

Edited April 30, 2010 by dobadoy

[wynzlo]

Let's keep things in perspective pls. Why is any of this worse than what we've seen very recently, with people getting shot and grenades going off and people dying? I sense a lot of fabricated indignation; the Reds are jittery, they KNOW they can get their faces blown off at any time by government (or rogue army) snipers.. It's chaotic, someone thinks they see military in the building directly overlooking their site.. It happens to be a hospital, but better safe than sorry.

Good of Dr. Weng to apologize though, respect.

This doesn't sound like a justification of their actions. I read it as a reminder of what the situation might look like through other peoples' eyes, not just the eyes of us outsiders sitting at our computers reading news posts on ThaiVisa.

No idea what color shirt Winnie has on today, but I always appreciate help in seeing things from others' perspectives. Respect.

[andyc2006]

Let's keep things in perspective pls. Why is any of this worse than what we've seen very recently, with people getting shot and grenades going off and people dying?

Because most people (red, yellow or other), make a conscious choice to go to the dangerous spots -- that doesn't mean they deserve to be victims of violence, but it doesn't make the rest of us feel a little less sympathy for them. In the case of those stuck in a hospital bed, they (often) don't even have the choice to leave.

It's despicable for a number of reasons, but at the top of the list is removal of other humans' free will.

the Reds are jittery, they KNOW they can get their faces blown off at any time by government (or rogue army) snipers..

Glad we're in agreement here... they're jittery because they're breaking the law and hurting other people in the process, and they realize that gives the government legitimate reason to act against them, up to and including use of force (that the government is too weak and pathetic to do this is a separate issue).

It's chaotic, someone thinks they see military in the building directly overlooking their site.. It happens to be a hospital, but better safe than sorry.

Interesting perspective. What about the fact that even if the Thai military had been in the building, they may have been there legally (they are Thai troops on Thai soil, after all), but that the Red-shirted terrorists who seized the hospital had no right to do so?

Exactly how is illegally seizing a hospital being safe? What's to be sorry about -- breaking the laws? And then attacking a hospital to make sure there's nobody in it who might actually enforce the law?

[animatic]

What an achievement. Closing down a public hospital used mainly by poor people anbd forcing other hospitals to become over worked and overcrowded. Even if they cant hand the lunatics over you would hope today they would consdier going home or even cancelling the vile hate filled rhetoric and then party music

Wengs apology is ridiculous without action. Go home or hand the paerpetrators over without condition. Sick people and medical workers should be free of interference by gangs known for their violence

Agreed

And to quote Herm in the previous thread.

It is the right of the law respecting citizen to be protected by the government forces from such anarchy. This is what the whole system of governments is about, otherwise we should all be allowed to carry arms and we call Thailand "the wild East".

[khaowong1]

This is nuts.. what is the red shirts thinking? You storm a hospital because you think you see soldiers inside. Try that in the U.S. or some other country.. Where are the police while this is going on. Collecting money on Sukhumvit from some farang dropping a cigarette butt. Thailand is becoming the laughing stock of Southeast Asia. It will be years before they can live this down.

[sharkwatch]

lets clear three blocks down the road from this mobsters make a cordon impose a curfew. seal em all off and wait. i suppose

since takky is now a montenegrien he will stop paying. then all the mislead people go home and the others can be dealt with.

[RickBradford]

How does one contact the Red Shirt leaders?

Reason I ask is, there's an old folks' place near my house, sort of Buddhist refuge for the elderly and demented, and I wondered if they'd like to come round and terrorise the place a bit. Guaranteed no-one under 75, should be about right for these Heroes of the Revolution.

[wadsy]

This hospital story has been over-played..... let's move on....

Typical comment by a red shirt sympathizer. If the reds do something ILLEGAL then lets just ignore it. I really do wonder at the calibre of some of the posters here.................

[earthpig]

This is great! Being criticised by a an American! Ha!

i see that the colonial mentality is alive and well in brits, even those who regard themselves as left wingers.

no surprise then that you have so little regard for the lives of thais.

[michael888]

So what were the red shirts planning to do to the troops had they have been there?!

This is just going to far! Something needs to be done, and SOON

<deleted>!.........they need to just go home

[Sheryl]

NOTE TO MODERATOR: Please note I did not express myself in the same way I did last week when I got banned for three days. But really, shouldn't we be justified in using some colorful language in these cases?

NOTE FROM MODERATOR:

No.

[whybother]

I posted this on the other thread, but am re-posting it here, as I would welcome thoughts on this:

I have a feeling (confirmed by Weng's "apology" this morning), that we have seen the last of the violence. The Vibhavadi Road incident was a turning point. The Reds are losing the propaganda war. Thaksin's confiscated money has today be transferred out of his and his kids frozen accounts and to the Ministry of Finance.

The battle is over. It's now all about face-saving. How do both sides end this without looking like they lost? My bet is a third party (I don't mean the King) will have to come in and negotiate. I doubt it will be EU/UN because that would be unacceptable to the gov't. Must be some respected and neutral person within Thai life, if there is any left?

Anybody?

I'd like to think so, but the reds have been wanting violence since the start, so I think they will keep pushing.

[SICA]

I posted this on the other thread, but am re-posting it here, as I would welcome thoughts on this:

I have a feeling (confirmed by Weng's "apology" this morning), that we have seen the last of the violence. The Vibhavadi Road incident was a turning point. The Reds are losing the propaganda war. Thaksin's confiscated money has today be transferred out of his and his kids frozen accounts and to the Ministry of Finance.

The battle is over. It's now all about face-saving. How do both sides end this without looking like they lost? My bet is a third party (I don't mean the King) will have to come in and negotiate. I doubt it will be EU/UN because that would be unacceptable to the gov't. Must be some respected and neutral person within Thai life, if there is any left?

Anybody?

Nobody knows how far Weng is prepared to go to save face. That is the most worrying part of it, at this moment.

I think the government should call a curfew, get a few guys inside Central to board up the windows, block off roads around the red-shirts sites and generally make the protestors feel uneasy, just to see the reaction. Not necessarily do anything, just watch and see how tooled up they are and what their plan will be. If nothing it may give them a lot of information for their defence plan.

[Herm]

I posted this on the other thread, but am re-posting it here, as I would welcome thoughts on this:

I have a feeling (confirmed by Weng's "apology" this morning), that we have seen the last of the violence. The Vibhavadi Road incident was a turning point. The Reds are losing the propaganda war. Thaksin's confiscated money has today be transferred out of his and his kids frozen accounts and to the Ministry of Finance.

The battle is over. It's now all about face-saving. How do both sides end this without looking like they lost? My bet is a third party (I don't mean the King) will have to come in and negotiate. I doubt it will be EU/UN because that would be unacceptable to the gov't. Must be some respected and neutral person within Thai life, if there is any left?

Anybody?

I think that this is more than "overly optimistic" - Thaksin's money in Thailand is a small amount of the money he made during his time as the head thief of the country. He moved the majority abroad a long time before the coup.

One has to understand that the red leaders face serious jail time or even the death sentence and they will not give up that easy unless they have enough bargaining power to negotiate a pardon.

[Robby nz]

I hear "Doctor" Weng has said the hospital can continue treating patients, nice of him!!! but they wont allow soldiers to be treated

I thought Doctors were supposed to take some sort of oath???

Mrs said it is even more stupid because if any of the reds need treatment having a hospital close would be a big advantage to them, now they dont have that facility avalable to them.

[ETatBKK]

The Red leaders simply play good-guy bad-guy.

If Weng was sincere about his apology, why doesn't he turn in Payap and the 200 guards who stormed the hospital?

EXACTLY !! this is the responsibility of a 'leader' !!

where is that CRIMINAL Payap now ? show up, you are deserved !!

[whybother]

This is great! Being criticised by a an American! Ha!

i see that the colonial mentality is alive and well in brits, even those who regard themselves as left wingers.

no surprise then that you have so little regard for the lives of thais.

Regard for the life of Thais ... sure.

Regard for the life of criminals ... not really.

[Netfan]

For what it's worth, I believe the Director (or the person who authorised) of Chulla Hospital should do the honourable thing and resign for bringing so much shame upon himself by putting all his patients and staff in mortal danger when he openned his doors to a known terrorist group. Disgusting, reprehensible lack of responsibility.

The reds would have broken down the doors. They know no limits and have no decency. The shame lies with:

1. Red leaders

2. Impotent government and police force

Edited April 30, 2010 by Netfan

[GungaDin]

As for me, since u ask, I'm a right wing american conservative who regularly reads your Guardian for comic relief.

How do you get 'round the big words?

[hammered]

I hope the reds are very proud of what they have achieved.

My late father in law spent time in that hospital for cancer treatment. Knowing how ill he was, my thoughts go out to all the patients who now have to be moved because of this reckless act of terrorism.

Coming close to where all embassies will be telling their citizens to return home since it is clear NOBODY is safe in Thailand anymore due to the red mob.

The vast majority of the country is totally the same as it was months ago. The civil war talk is coming from poltical leaders on all sides. They may even pull it off if they keep it up but right now the majority of the counttry remains safe and I would say a big majority dont want civil war

[ThaksinKharma]

The terrorists coming in last night:

Kom Chad Luek news

[Arkady]

Chula Hospital is one of the few hospitals where the poor can obtain specialist treatment from some of the country's best physicians and surgeons. What will be next? Attacks on schools and monasteries? Kneecappings and necklacings of dissenters. The leaders have no shame and, like their paymaster, only open their mouths to utter lie after lie and stir up hatred apart from, of course, guzzling food and wine in luxury restaurants. Thailand will have to pay a very high price for allowing armed mobs running out of control, doing whatever they feel like for weeks on end, while police stand idle. However this ends there are going to be large numbers of unemployed thugs running around with heavy weaponry in their hands and chips on their shoulders. Think Somalia, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Darfur....

[hammered]

The Red leaders simply play good-guy bad-guy.

If Weng was sincere about his apology, why doesn't he turn in Payap and the 200 guards who stormed the hospital?

EXACTLY !! this is the responsibility of a 'leader' !!

where is that CRIMINAL Payap now ? show up, you are deserved !!

Last seen sitting on the stage next to Nuttawut at their morning press conference.

Should be easy enough for them to turn him in and thereby prove they dont have anything to do with such actions. Best done quickly before more starts to leak out about how it was all carefully planned last night and had (begrudging?) support of leaders.

[Sisaketmike]

Apology ? thats not an apology . now on top of all that chaos the hospital is moving 250 ill Thai's.

Not only ill Thais, lots of foreigners are also going to hospitals like that, because it's cheaper. Just imagine, you, a relative, or a good friend would be there with a serious health condition, and they 'move' this person to another crowded hospital because of some criminals?

If that's not a criminal offense, what's it then?

I've just been to a government hospital, because I needed another advise, there were more than 400 people before me, lots in wheel chairs, or on crutches.How can you evacuate a place like that????

Please, we're humans, because we've got a brain, (hopefully) but what's going on now will sooner or later turn into a civil war. And cops and the Army is hiding somewhere?

Please PM do something, or you'll lose your credibility.

[Mosha]

I posted this on the other thread, but am re-posting it here, as I would welcome thoughts on this:

I have a feeling (confirmed by Weng's "apology" this morning), that we have seen the last of the violence. The Vibhavadi Road incident was a turning point. The Reds are losing the propaganda war. Thaksin's confiscated money has today be transferred out of his and his kids frozen accounts and to the Ministry of Finance.

The battle is over. It's now all about face-saving. How do both sides end this without looking like they lost? My bet is a third party (I don't mean the King) will have to come in and negotiate. I doubt it will be EU/UN because that would be unacceptable to the gov't. Must be some respected and neutral person within Thai life, if there is any left?

Anybody?

I wouldn't bet your month's beer allowance on it.

[maxman71]

General Paojinda, time to issue the order to "lock and load". What absolutely disgraceful behavior. It's one thing to occupy some streets, shut down malls, the airport, etc., but when a group invades a hospital, regardless of troops being there or not, that's it. It's checkmate time for the red shirts. And their apology? It's not worth the water vapor his words were carried on.