Chulalongkorn Hospital Evacuated After Stormed By Red-Shirts

[ETatBKK]

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

very nice and polite way of 'doctor Weng' and his DOUBLE STANDARD !

what an 'animal farm' story !

by the way, is he a medical doctor ? SHAME !

[ThaksinKharma]

The face of terrorism:

Former Thai Rak Thai Party MP and current Red Shirt Leader Payap Panket

this is CRIMINAL, even in a state of war, this guy will bring to the military court !

shame !

Seems quite fitting and unsurprising that he was previously with TRT.

A good example of the sort of "democracy" Thailand had under Thaksin's despotic regime.

[jcbangkok]

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

LMAO

[LevelHead]

This is hilarious

The reds, whilst wrong to go into the hospital in numbers, did not endanger anyone or obstruct any medical care.

The overreaction now is another sign of YELLOW PROPAGANDA, hyping up a small story.

Remember the reports of army soldiers firing rubber bullets at, and beating up, medical workers treating Reds on April 10th. Do you see this discussed in the media or swept under the carpet. The April 10th events were far worse given the actual abuse of medical workers.

Pure yellow propaganda now......... nothing more.

How many people were beaten up ? How many died ? How many medical workers were beaten ?

You will find the answers are none, the reason for moving the patients is purely now as a media circus show for yellow media propaganda.

[souvenirdeparis]

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.

... after waiting so long to see of how it works out, that's the perspective of a terrorist supporter like Weng and the likes.

obviously you've never been in hospital for a major operation . I am a frequent -hospital goer and can all too well picture myself " attached to the wall" to pumps & perfusions , naked under the sheet, at the door of death with its cold hand on my ( fill whatever part of body you cherish most), shot full of morphin , and suddenly a mob of bastards come storming my room; don't these morons know about heart attacks ?

don't YOU know about heart attacks ? When I'm feeble like this, a sharp word from an under -assistant nurse sets me sick for two hours. Imagine patients in intensive ward ,where family isn't allowed, so as not to bring microbs in, and the operations that were being performed .

someone lacks imagination here . Anyway, what if soldiers where in the hospital? they're the govt's soldiers . Two workers were abducted.Them thugs have lowered the situation to levels of African proportions.

My thoughts go to the nurses in this hospital ,generally nurses are angels for the seriously sick. .

I didn't know the hospital was evacuated when I wrote that, I'm revolted.

Edited April 30, 2010 by souvenirdeparis

[hammered]

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.

Weng is one of the most discredtied people in this sordid affair. He has come out looking like a major hypocrite. Notice in a recent interview he is also an extra-judicial killing denier

[Corporateteacher]

I've heard that there are about a hundred women sitting in Ratchaprasong making molotov cocktails in broad daylight, as if they are making somtam.... this is not good. They have started their own manufacturing of weapons since they are having trouble importing... nothing good can come of this!

My wife went to Chulalongkorn Uni yesterday for finalization of her Master Degree and passed they area. She is a strong opponent to the red even she comes from the sticks. She hates them, there violence, rhetoric etc. She also saw some ladies sitting in the shadow under that green camouflage stuff they have put over some part of there protest area. They were putting something of liquid in bottles. And it wasn't coke, water, milk or whiskey. She said, that while she passed on the direction for Siam Square a she smelled gasoline odor of some kind. As there isn't any cars in there area for the moment, besides some belonging to the Reds Shirts, she said it must have been special cocktails.

Edited April 30, 2010 by Corporateteacher

[nickupton]

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...

I agree with all but one point. The redshirts should not be allowed to negotiate for anything, they should be in prison for fuelling such hate and anarchy. Look at the hate, violence, homophobia and xenophobia they preach in their publications http://www.2bangkok.com/09/RedPublications.shtml, these, and the shameful storming of a hospital show us the true colours of the redshirts.

[gl9999]

The face of terrorism:

Former Thai Rak Thai Party MP and current Red Shirt Leader Payap Panket

this is CRIMINAL, even in a state of war, this guy will bring to the military court !

shame !

Seems quite fitting and unsurprising that he was previously with TRT.

A good example of the sort of "democracy" Thailand had under Thaksin's despotic regime.

An animal in a suit is still an animal. I know it's wrong but right now, I see these Red Shirts as animals.

[Herm]

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.

Isn't it the red's who have shown no regards for life at all by using weapons of war and does anyone think those M79 grenades they found on the arms dealing cop were ment for anyone else but the red's?

In a situation like this, a government has to use force since their is no other choice, but to let the country sink into total anarchy. The governments job is to protect their citizens. The reds have lost their right as citizens and have chosen (no one forced them unless you consider being paid money as "force") a path of violence.

There is always talk about women and children. If those are filling up petrol bombs and throwing them at the public or government forces. they also loose their status and if killed or wounded no one can blame the government.

Example - a child runs towards your helicopter with a hand-grenade in his hand, ready to throw it into your chopper and kill all of you - are you going to shoot the child or not ?

Edited April 30, 2010 by Herm

[kurtgruen]

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?

ROFL

[kohchaiBKK]

Many of the Reds come from Thailand's rural poor and urban working classes and seek the return of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and now lives overseas to avoid a jail term for corruption.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think you are forgetting the large proportion of violent criminals -

I've logged enough time in Isaan to say that the vast majority are good and decent people. Unfortunately, poverty and illiteracy make them rather easy to manipulate. Noone knows that better than Thaksin and his minions. He has enough education to understand history, as do most of the Westerners posting here. They do not. Those criminals seem to make good leaders.

27 dead so far, and likely more to come. If murder charges do not ensue, a strong case will be made for Thailand becoming a "Failed" state.

One last comment: I cannot count the number of times I have participated in a "Protest" over the course of my life. All for what I considered noble causes. I have never aimed, thrown or forged weaponry. I have killed noone. I have kidnapped noone. I have never stormed a hospital, threatened to lay waste to a shopping center, or exerted force on an innocent public. While exercising my RIGHT to protest, I have never knowingly and intentionally infringed on the rights of others. I think it about time Thai Visa stopped using the term "Protesters." It is an insult to a good word.

[sarahsbloke]

where were the police, just being spectators as usual?

My father in law is a policeman in Bangkok.

He is also a red shirt, as are many (if not most) of his colleagues. Same for the army.

If the government orders them to attack their own, it will initiate the civil war.

If the army and police join the opposition the government are finished.

I'm not taking sides, or saying who is right or wrong, just pointing out how it is.

[LevelHead]

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 !!

LOL

So what did he do ?

Kill patients ?

Beat up nurses ?

Make people die through lack of treatment ?

They did nothing.

The hospital can run as normal last night and today but IT DECIDES NOT TO, have they been "paid off" to put on a media circus show and play to the TV and other YELLOW media for the "mass propaganda".

More propaganda, just like Silom BTS attack and the claims of Suthep and the Yellow shirts and Yellow newspapers after that happened.

Pure BS.

Edited April 30, 2010 by LevelHead

[Motoon]

still there's a deafening silence from the gov,even the whole world is outraged about this. Same tactic as the reds, wait and see of how it works out before any statement is made. What a shame government this is too.

I always thought governments are in place to govern and not to watch like bystanders.

I'm sure there will be a lot of activities today. Government has probably become a bit careful after numerous gaffes where they tried to announce the "news" first. What happened is shameful and shows that there is a high number of red shirts thugs who don't really care about anything, least about democracy. This has exposed the red leaders, as it will further support the necessity to restore law and order, before political solutions are achieved.

[rabo]

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?

By now, it's abundantly clear that the government is caught between a rock and a hard place, damned if they do and damned if they don't. Abhisit's position is: we will not use excessive force against our fellow Thais and, within our power to do so, we will not allow lawlessness. As Abhisit slowly walks along this tightrope, the policy seems to be having its effect. The reds are roaming less, beginning to stumble, and a few critical arrests have been made, including one (the arms dealer) that may have made the difference between disaster and a successful demonstration of crowd control.

The table is turning ever so slightly, and the red leadership is beginning to see their own tightrope. As their violent methods are exposed again and again, they have become more cautious in their actions but, like the government, sitting and doing nothing will lead to defeat.

Maybe this is a good environment to begin honest negotiation however, real negotiation will require a horizontal fracture in the red command. Both the head red and the wild red must see the situation and an order for a final application of violence to detonate the situation is clearly possible. Keep in mind, if the situation were to end with an appearant victory for the principles of calm laid down by PM Aphisit, the political loss for the other side could be intolerable.

Rather than being over, it could be the rising curtain on the final act.

However, it may be too late to change the name on the loser's headstone. RIP exiled convicted ex-prime minster K. Mr. Dr. T

Edited April 30, 2010 by rabo

[Koh_Falang]

This is hilarious

The reds, whilst wrong to go into the hospital in numbers, did not endanger anyone or obstruct any medical care.

The overreaction now is another sign of YELLOW PROPAGANDA, hyping up a small story.

Remember the reports of army soldiers firing rubber bullets at, and beating up, medical workers treating Reds on April 10th. Do you see this discussed in the media or swept under the carpet. The April 10th events were far worse given the actual abuse of medical workers.

i didnt see any reporting on this... can you post some links please... cheers

[hammered]

This is hilarious

The reds, whilst wrong to go into the hospital in numbers, did not endanger anyone or obstruct any medical care.

The overreaction now is another sign of YELLOW PROPAGANDA, hyping up a small story.

Remember the reports of army soldiers firing rubber bullets at, and beating up, medical workers treating Reds on April 10th. Do you see this discussed in the media or swept under the carpet. The April 10th events were far worse given the actual abuse of medical workers.

Pure yellow propaganda now......... nothing more.

How many people were beaten up ? How many died ? How many medical workers were beaten ?

You will find the answers are none, the reason for moving the patients is purely now as a media circus show for yellow media propaganda.

No it is to ensure people can be treated and recuperate in a safe environment and their families can visit them unmolested.

Hospitals should remain inviolate especially by groups known to be armed and violent. The only people not condemning this action are hard cpore reds. Go talk today to any neutral or even red symapathiser and see what they say. You are out on a limb on this one by a long long way. Even Chavlit quickly disappeared from view.

Abuse as you are probably aware takes many forms and threat and fear are one. Even in a time of war this would be a war crime if committed by ojne set of combatants although as nobody was killed a small war crime but a war crime none the less. Hospitals are palces of sancturay and refuge and should be left inviolate by armed violent groups which is what the red shirts now are. Their peaceful moral highground disappeared long ago.

[ThaksinKharma]

The reds, whilst wrong to go into the hospital in numbers, did not endanger anyone or obstruct any medical care.

Patients evacuating today to other hospitals:

Krungthep Turakij news

[Herm]

where were the police, just being spectators as usual?

My father in law is a policeman in Bangkok.

He is also a red shirt, as are many (if not most) of his colleagues. Same for the army.

If the government orders them to attack their own, it will initiate the civil war.

If the army and police join the opposition the government are finished.

I'm not taking sides, or saying who is right or wrong, just pointing out how it is.

So your father in law is just another corrupt, none principled cop here like a lot of his colleges who are only good to collect bribes .. is that what you mean?

[kutjebu]

You read only what they want you to know.Nobody ask:Why are the redshirts checking this hospital?

Something happen before,what upset the red shirts.

[Sisaketmike]

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.

Not too long ago they stopped a train in Korat, with 80 soldiers in it, made them understand that they can't go on and they accepted. It took about three days that the train could drive to the South, where the loded equipment was needed.

Reds complained they thought the train would bring weapons to Bangkok, now a hospital has been just evacuated. When will that stop? Please you can't blame the Director of this hospital, maybe he let them in to prevent violence?

LOS Land Of Softies?

Edited April 30, 2010 by Sisaketmike

[Traxster]

What the Bangkok police should do is stop all the redshirts who are riding motorbikes and fine them 200 baht each and they should do it every time the reddies are out on their mo'bikes.

[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?

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.

I don't think so Herm. The point is that its a stalemate since Vibhavadi Road. The Reds now know there are some troops with backbone. The key thing about Vibhavadi Road was that there was no outcry from the public in sympathy for the reds, quite the opposite. The Reds were largely blamed. The public aren't buying the reds 'the gov't want to shoot peaceful protesters line' anymore.

That tells the reds that they are now stuck in Rachaprasong, and while it might be killing the economy, my bet is the gov't see that as less of an evil tha a crackdown and starting a guerilla war - that is, after all, what the reds have been itching for all along. The loon Seh Daeng bragged the other day 'they need 300,000 to defeat us.'

If the Reds know the gov't wont' crackdown and they can't get out of Rachaprasong, its game over as far as violence is concerned. Unless the Reds can conceive of some other way to make the gov't starting shooting them, their only option is to start negotiating. Obviously an amnesty will be top of their list and bottom of everyone else's, but I'd imagine that nothing will happen until the reds are guaranteed under the table "no jail time".

Regarding Thaksin's money, I didn't mean it had any significant effect on his wealth. I meant the issue of the confiscated billions has now been completed with the final transfer of funds from his and family's accounts from SCB (about 46B baht) occurring today.

The violence is over until or unless the reds try another mobile rally. Hopefully the Kanchanaburi platoons that dealt with Vibhavadi Road will be assigned to deal with any other one, too.

[souvenirdeparis]

"cosy notion of law and order"

I call this sense of humanity . something very near a war crime has just happenend -only difference is they're a mob, not an army.

[Wildliferescue]

Any government official big or small should be officially ashamed from today on! Where is the law here? How much more do we need to lose??? The red shirts are showing again they are using terrorist means to fight for their cause, the government should act NOW! STOP THESE RED SHIRTS NOW!

[jcbangkok]

Abhisit on TV now

[paulandmaneerat]

Perhaps their agenda is to have an empty hospital nearby to take care of any red shirt victims of any potential crackdown! 1,400 beds and a team of doctors at their disposal. Very convenient.

P&M

[dobadoy]

The reds, whilst wrong to go into the hospital in numbers, did not endanger anyone or obstruct any medical care.

How about the two construction workers taken hostage? Or don't they count - they were no doubt Burmese immigrants anyway.

[MengWan]

where were the police, just being spectators as usual?

My father in law is a policeman in Bangkok.

He is also a red shirt, as are many (if not most) of his colleagues. Same for the army.

If the government orders them to attack their own, it will initiate the civil war.

If the army and police join the opposition the government are finished.

I'm not taking sides, or saying who is right or wrong, just pointing out how it is.

So your father in law is just another corrupt, none principled cop here like a lot of his colleges who are only good to collect bribes .. is that what you mean?

+1