Red-Shirts Storm Hospital

[Gaybutton]

Many people sympathetic to the Red-Shirts are finding their sympathies quickly eroding due to more and more incidents of blatant lawlessness and extreme tactics. Some areas are still reporting that Red-Shirts are blocking highways and forcing cars to stop and be inspected. Not only is that absolutely illegal, but it has caused massive traffic backups in some areas.

 

In their latest move, some 200 Red-Shirts stormed Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok, supposedly due to suspicions that soldiers were hiding inside. They seized two innocent workers, but did release them later. Meanwhile the hospital has had to cease accepting any more inpatients and outpatients and even is canceling emergency room services. While the hospitals have asked the Red-Shirts to remain at least 100 meters away, the Red-Shirts are still disrupting hospital services and causing problems for recovering patients due to their loudspeakers.

 

Many police officers are cooperating with the Red-Shirts and refusing to obey the Prime Minister's orders. Even during the hospital incident, it is being reported that police were within inches of one of the Red-Shirt leaders who is wanted and has an arrest warrant pending against him, but they did nothing.

 

The following is from THE NATION:

_____

 

Reds Storm Hospital

 

By Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

Published on April 30, 2010

 

In another brazen and controversial move, more than 200 red-shirt guards stormed into Chulalongkorn Hospital last night to check if there were soldiers inside the hospital buildings.

 

The hour-long incident at the hospital, which is located right next to the red-shirt rally site, was monitored closely on Twitter and triggered a storm of criticism within the social media community.

 

Hospital director Dr Adisorn Patradul initially refused to let the members of the anti-government Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD) into the complex.

 

However, a source said Adisorn gave in after DAAD co-leader Payap Panket, wanted by police for his role in the tumultuous red campaign, insisted that he be allowed to inspect the area.

 

Although Adisorn only allowed Payap, five red-shirt guards and reporters to come in, scores of other red-shirt guards poured into the hospital buildings as soon as the door was opened.

 

During their search, watched by bewildered nurses and doctors, the red-shirt guards seized two men and brought them to the DAAD stage at the Rajprasong intersection. The two were later released after they told the red shirts they were just workers.

 

The red-shirt guards stopped their search at the hospital at around 8.30pm, but only after police stepped in to negotiate. During the talks, the wanted man Payap was just inches away from the senior officers taking part in the negotiations.

 

The talks ended with an agreement for the red-shirt guards to be allowed to check the hospital again today. This prompted angry responses from Twitter users monitoring the incident, who described the police action as shameful.

 

Reds storm hospital

[Guest lvdkeyes]

These maniacs need to be stopped. Disrupting hospitals from caring for sick people is inexcusable.

[PattayaMale]

In an earlier post about Red shirts going violent, one poster (RichLB) stated, "your implication that the reds are calling for a violent overthrow of the government doesn't reflect anything I've seen or read."

 

After the bombing of the BTS, the terrorizing of the hospital where many poor go for treatment, and a Red leader admitting to CNN that some Reds do have military type weapons, I wonder if the view expressed by RichLB as quoted above, is still shared by other posters?

[Guest gay_grampa]

Even during the hospital incident, it is being reported that police were within inches of one of the Red-Shirt leaders who is wanted and has an arrest warrant pending against him, but they did nothing.

 

What do you expect the police to do in this situation?

Chulalongkorn Hospital is inside the Red barricades. Would you have them try to arrest this red-shirt leader inside the hospital and then have even more violent red-storm troopers rush into the hospital to try to free him?

I have little respect or sympathy for the reds or the police but in this situation the police seem to have taken prudent action to save those in the hospital any more distress.

[Gaybutton]

What do you expect the police to do in this situation?

I don't expect anything. I wasn't there and I don't know the situation they faced. Unless you were there, neither do you.

 

Here is the latest on the hospital situation:

_____

 

Chulalongkorn Hospital Evacuates Patients

 

Published: 30/04/2010 at 12:00 PM

 

Chulalongkorn Hospital began evacuating patients on Friday morning for safety reasons after red-shirt protesters stormed the hospital on Thursday night looking for soldiers.

 

About 200 supporters and guards of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) led by leader Payap Panket searched hospital buildings, claiming it was being used as a hideout by the security forces.

 

The group later left and threatened to return for a new search at 10am Friday. UDD leaders this mornign reprimanded the protesters and said there would be no more raids

 

Hospital director Adisorn Patradul said in the morning that patients were being transferred to Siriraj and other hospitals.

 

The evacuation was voluntary, the decision being made by the patients and their relatives, he said. The patients have the right to remain at the hospital if they wish.

 

Chulalongkorn Hospital evacuates patients

[PattayaMale]

Gay-grampa makes a very good point.

 

I am not sure anyone takes the police or military very seriously anymore. The idea of unlocking the door and letting 100 Red guards into the hospital instead of the agreed upon 5 seems foolish. Wouldn't trained professionals that negotiated the deal, also make part of the deal that the 100 Red guards move back 100 meters before unlocking the hospital doors?

 

Does the apology of Red Dr. Weng (?) to the public saying, the invasion of the hospital was a mistake help their cause?

[Guest Taschizzie]

It is not just that the Red Shirts stormed a hospital looking for soldiers, it is that they stormed Chulalongkorn Hospital...

 

A Thai friend explained the following to me and I went online to verify his claims and in a country where so much communication is subtle and often not apparent to Westerners, he may very well be right.

 

King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital is jointly operated by Thai Red Cross and the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University. The head of that faculty is the head of the hospital.

 

It is the oldest university in Thailand and has long been considered the country's most prestigious - it was founded by Rama IV, King Chulalongkorn's son, and its graduates are given their degrees, usually by the king, but recently by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who is often called Phra Thep meaning "princess angel" and who is a graduate of Chula as well.

 

 

The affront here is staggering as the Red Shirts violated both the sanctity of a place of healing AND an institution that is closely identified with the Royal Family.

 

The thought of these louts forcing their will on a Royal-identified institution has caused my friend, who is from Isaan and was previously a wavering Red Shirt supporter, to say that it is time for the occupation to end.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

I agree that it is time for the occupation to end.

 

Being a firefighter in California during the 60's and the 70's, I was exposed to several of these types of demonstrations...not this large of course. There were several bad outcomes, but fortunately there were a few good outcomes...and those were all a result of isolation. That is, everything going into the area that is occupied was cut off, except medical supplies and support. That included the water, electricity, food, ice, drinks, and people..everything cut off from going in. Anyone inside was free to leave at any time, but were of course searched and processed out of the occupation area.

 

I don't know if this could be accomplished in Bangkok, due to the size of the area, but they certainly shouldn't have allowed the 2000+ people that left the area yesterday and got into the battle at Don Muang back into the occupied area...they should, in my opinion, have been shut out and separated from the group, especially since they were virtually leaderless.

[Guest cdnmatt]

I don't know if this could be accomplished in Bangkok, due to the size of the area, but they certainly shouldn't have allowed the 2000+ people that left the area yesterday and got into the battle at Don Muang back into the occupied area...they should, in my opinion, have been shut out and separated from the group, especially since they were virtually leaderless.

 

That's the sad thing, because it continually becomes more apparent the government has lost control. You know, 200 protesters storm a hospital due to paranoia, and not only are they not arrested, but the police tell them they can return the next day? Huh??? Just imagine if something like that happened in our home countries.

 

It's fairly obvious now, after the last several weeks of events, the majority of the police force isn't exactly loyal the government. Lets just hope the yellow shirts don't make good on their word, that if the government can't handle the protesters, they will.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

This website

http://www.pantip.com/cafe/chalermthai/topic/A9192681/A9192681.html

 

is worth looking at. It shows conditions inside the hospital after patients were moved to buildings that are more secure and further from the red shirts compound. It doesn't look like a place that I would like to be sick in..that's for sure.

 

It is mostly in Thai, but just scan down to see pictures with English captions.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Those conditions are deplorable. Those bastards need to be strung up.

[Gaybutton]

It is mostly in Thai

I ran that web site through Google Translate. The translations are not perfect, but they're definitely good enough to fully understand what is being said.

[Guest]

Those conditions are deplorable. Those bastards need to be strung up.

 

I couldn't agree more. Take out the ring leaders. Including the one residing over the border.

[Gaybutton]

Hospital in Panic after Red Raid

 

UDD bows to criticism, police boost security

 

Published: 1/05/2010

 

Police are boosting security at all city hospitals after the red shirts stormed Chulalongkorn Hospital on Thursday night.

 

The red-shirted United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship was yesterday forced into a humiliating apology after its raid prompted severe criticism.

 

Weng Tojirakarn, a red shirt leader and medical doctor, issued a ``deep apology'' for the raid, calling it ``inappropriate, too much, and unreasonable''.

 

Assistant national police chief Worapong Chiewpreecha said the search at Chulalongkorn Hospital by the red shirts threatened patients, relatives, and medical personnel.

 

The government's Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) ordered police to ensure that all hospitals are safe places.

 

Hospital in panic after red raid

____________________

 

Chula Transfers Patients to Other Hospitals

 

By Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

Published on May 1, 2010

 

Medical workers at Chulalongkorn Hospital yesterday were chaotically rushing to move over 600 patients including elderly people and children from buildings where located near the anti-government rally site at Saladaeng Intersection to other buildings and hospitals where faraway from the demonstration as the hospital worried that the violent incident that would affect to patient.

 

Patient's relatives were rushing to pick up their family member who admit at hospital while the hospital had deployed wheelchairs and ambulances to moved patient who stay at Phor Por Ror, Sor Kor and Jong Konnee Wattana building where located near Ratchadamri road and near the demonstration site to other buildings which near Henri Dunant road and other hospitals where faraway from rally site.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/05/01/national/Chula-transfers-patients-to-other-hospitals-30128369.html

____________________

 

Losing Patience

 

By The Nation

Published on May 1, 2010

 

It was supposed to be a day for the red shirts to fix the damage, but as it turned out, the consequences of Thursday's invasion of Chulalongkorn Hospital meant the political movement was staring at a wrecked reputation that is nearly irreparable.

 

Photos of patients being wheeled out of the hospital - from helpless old people with oxygen masks to a baby in an incubator - spread epidemically on social media. The urgent yet awkward relocation of Chulalongkorn Hospital patients, helped by grim-faced relatives and nurses, subdued even the most understanding sympathisers of the red shirts and was described by some observers as a complete PR disaster for the movement.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/05/01/politics/Losing-patience-30128386.html

[Guest GaySacGuy]

After they said they were so sorry for the hospital event, and removed the barricade from the street that provides access to the hospital....Last night they rebuilt the barricade. These people are hopeless!!

 

Chula barricade rebuilt 'at Khattiya's orders'

By THE NATION

 

 

 

BANGKOK: -- The red shirts yesterday rebuilt their road barricade outside Chulalongkorn Hospital after it was removed earlier in the day following public outrage over their raid of the hospital on Thursday night.

 

The barricade - made with car tyres, wooden spikes and barbed wire - was removed late yesterday morning following a meeting of protest leaders, including Natthawut Saikua, weng Tojirakarn and Suporn Atthawong.

 

However, at around 6pm, the red-shirt protesters began reconstructing the barricade that they said was at the order of renegade Army specialist Maj-General Khattiya Sawasdiphol.

 

Many red shirts still admire Khattiya even though some leaders earlier encouraged the protesters to "cut ties" with him because of the allegedly aggressive nature of his moves.

 

Complete post at Bangkok Red-Shirt Rally - Live Saturday - Thailand Forum

[Guest lvdkeyes]

These red shirts are causing irreparable damage to Thailand. Somehow they need to be made to understand that. They need to take their sorry asses home and stop listening to the fugitive criminal and get on with their lives.

[Gaybutton]

These red shirts are causing irreparable damage to Thailand.

I agree. Another aspect of this is that Thailand has been gaining a reputation as a place to come for what has been termed 'medical tourism.' I can't help but feel this is going to cause great damage to that reputation if people feel that they risk having their hospital blockaded or even raided if an uncontrolled mob decides it's a great idea to do things like that.

 

Another example of cutting of their own noses to spite their faces. Another nail in the coffin. The news reports indicate that even a great many staunch Red-Shirt supporters are outraged over this incident.

 

No matter how sincere the Red-Shirt leadership apology might have been, the damage has already been done. It is even worse since after the apology the same hospital ended up blockaded again.

 

A friend of mine once said, "You know something? It takes at least a dozen 'attaboys' to counteract one 'awww shit'." With this incident I think he vastly underestimates the number of 'attaboys' it will take.

 

What are these people thinking? Even if soldiers really were hiding out in the hospital, which makes no sense to me in the first place, my logic tells me the same mob could have captured them when they tried to come out. So, why the raid? And what would this mob have done if soldiers really were hiding in the hospital, start shooting? Inside a hospital? I wonder if they at least considered what the global reaction to something like that would have been.

 

Can you imagine what that raid must have been like for the patients and staff? And even worse, I didn't know until I read the article that the Red-Shirt leader who organized that raid is himself a doctor! How would you like to be one of his patients?

 

This whole protest is getting way out of hand and it's starting to look like the Red-Shirt leadership is losing control of their own hordes. I wonder how many more outrageous incidents are yet to come.

[Guest Hedda]

I used to think that nobody could outdo the Nation as a mouthpiece for the current government, but reading this and other threads in this forum for the past few makes makes me wonder if many of the regulars here gone the Nation one better.

 

Wake up gentlemen. There is a very different view of what's happening in Bangkok right now that doesn't exactly conform to either the Nation's version of events or sentiments that "these bastards need to be strung up." Stop judging everything from the point of view of the ruling class: whether it's good for tourism or profits.

 

To be sure, this red shirt movement is messy, chaotic and sometimes violent, but so have most other worthwhile democratic movements in human history, especially the ones seeking to end authoritarian rule. Knock that Romanov chip on your shoulder and take a look at reality: tens of thousands of Thai people have been sitting for weeks on hot concrete in the blazing sun or drenching rain far from home, sleeping on sidewalks or in tents, wondering if tonight's the night they'll wake in panic to face the deadly fire of rifles sent by leaders who prefer bullets to ballots.

 

Granted, most of these folks in red shirts don't look like portraits from a royal gallery, nor would Gandhi admire the sticks some wave in anger, but that doesn't make their mission any less noble. Look past the propaganda and you just might be able to see that this as the same struggle for political rights that many of our own people back home fought and won generations ago.It's the Thais turn now to do the same.

[Guest Taschizzie]

....Stop judging everything from the point of view of the ruling class...

 

While Hedda decries the groupthink of the assembled multitudes here at GayThailand, he is spilling the Red Shirt flavored Kool-Aid he's guzzling all over his (red) shirt and, as the Kool-Aid website proclaims, "Now That's Sweet!"

 

This summer, get ready. The rivers are gonna run Red...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry-rTHOpgxE

[Guest GaySacGuy]

To be sure, this red shirt movement is messy, chaotic and sometimes violent, but so have most other worthwhile democratic movements in human history, especially the ones seeking to end authoritarian rule. Knock that Romanov chip on your shoulder and take a look at reality: tens of thousands of Thai people have been sitting for weeks on hot concrete in the blazing sun or drenching rain far from home, sleeping on sidewalks or in tents, wondering if tonight's the night they'll wake in panic to face the deadly fire of rifles sent by leaders who prefer bullets to ballots.

 

 

BULLSHIT

 

They have been sitting on hot concrete, etc. because they are being paid more than they can make back in their village, or even growing rice. The majority of these people are there for CASH!! In addition, the majority of their time in the occupied area has been one big party - booze, food, drink, etc -....there hasn't been any shooting or killing to my knowledge in the core of the occupied area...it has been when they branched out of the compound.

 

The leadership is being financed by some very large amounts of CASH that isn't intent on forming a real democratic government. This is all about CASH...not Democracy. Thaskin's cash, the countries cast, and of course control..of the cash!

 

I am not supporting any side...other than the side of someone who would like all the demonstrations to cease when they affect the rights of other citizens..Red now, Yellow when they were at the airport, etc.

[Guest gay_grampa]

 

Can you imagine what that raid must have been like for the patients and staff? And even worse, I didn't know until I read the article that the Red-Shirt leader who organized that raid is himself a doctor! How would you like to be one of his patients?

 

 

Where did you find this information?

 

The article I read in The Nation said:

"That a red-shirt leader is a doctor only served to magnify resentment of a public totally losing its patience. Weng Tojirakarn, whose son is also a doctor and has been assigned a job at a provincial hospital, reportedly had tried to stop the invasion, but he might not have done enough, or probably the red leadership has become too fragmented to act on consensus anyway."

The Nation, as reported on ThaiVisa.com

 

You have said that the doctor organized the raid ... The Nation says he tried to stop it.

[Gaybutton]

Where did you find this information?

Condemnation poured in. Simmering public anger at the disruption of daily life now has had an added cause. That a red-shirt leader is a doctor only served to magnify resentment of a public totally losing its patience. weng Tojirakarn, whose son is also a doctor and has been assigned a job at a provincial hospital, reportedly had tried to stop the invasion, but he might not have done enough, or probably the red leadership has become too fragmented to act on consensus anyway.

 

That's from the 'Losing Patience' article. My read of it is the father, a doctor, was an organizer. It was the son, also a doctor, who apparently tried to stop it.

[Guest DamienZ]

I used to think that nobody could outdo the Nation as a mouthpiece for the current government, but reading this and other threads in this forum for the past few makes makes me wonder if many of the regulars here gone the Nation one better.

 

Wake up gentlemen. There is a very different view of what's happening in Bangkok right now that doesn't exactly conform to either the Nation's version of events or sentiments that "these bastards need to be strung up." Stop judging everything from the point of view of the ruling class: whether it's good for tourism or profits.

 

To be sure, this red shirt movement is messy, chaotic and sometimes violent, but so have most other worthwhile democratic movements in human history, especially the ones seeking to end authoritarian rule. Knock that Romanov chip on your shoulder and take a look at reality: tens of thousands of Thai people have been sitting for weeks on hot concrete in the blazing sun or drenching rain far from home, sleeping on sidewalks or in tents, wondering if tonight's the night they'll wake in panic to face the deadly fire of rifles sent by leaders who prefer bullets to ballots.

 

Granted, most of these folks in red shirts don't look like portraits from a royal gallery, nor would Gandhi admire the sticks some wave in anger, but that doesn't make their mission any less noble. Look past the propaganda and you just might be able to see that this as the same struggle for political rights that many of our own people back home fought and won generations ago.It's the Thais turn now to do the same.

 

Very good point Hedda. I must admit that until recently I pretty much felt as a "ruling class" tourist would feel about the whole thing. I recently read an article more along the lines of your sentiments, and I had to agree. Yes the whole thing is messy and many of my Thai friends here across the pond don't care for the reds either. Politics and change can be disruptive, messy, and inconvenient in any country. The following is a rather long exerpt from the economist article (link at bottom), which has a different perspective than that generally held by non red masses. It is ironic that The Economist is banned in Thailand. Thanks.

 

The stubborn delusions of the political elite provide the second reason. In 2006 the elite ousted Mr Thaksin, who for all his flaws was popularly elected, in a military-backed coup. In 2008 it ousted a popularly elected government loyal to Mr Thaksin. The red-shirt movement was born out of these acts.

 

Mr Abhisit is typical of the elite in his frustration with the red shirts. How, he asks, can these people, drawn chiefly from the lower parts of society, allow a billionaire (of all people) to whip up class divisions? "Thaksin", he says, "should not speak in a way that could create hatred between rich and poor. Society would be fine as long as people could do their jobs…"

 

 

Banyan: Bloody shirts in the city of angels | The Economist

[Guest fountainhall]

BULLSHIT

 

They have been sitting on hot concrete, etc. because they are being paid more than they can make back in their village, or even growing rice. The majority of these people are there for CASH!! In addition, the majority of their time in the occupied area has been one big party - booze, food, drink, etc -....there hasn't been any shooting or killing to my knowledge in the core of the occupied area...it has been when they branched out of the compound.

 

The leadership is being financed by some very large amounts of CASH that isn't intent on forming a real democratic government. This is all about CASH...not Democracy. Thaskin's cash, the countries cast, and of course control..of the cash!

Not long ago, I actually spent 2 hours going around the red-shirt area and saw for myself what the conditions were like and who was there. I wonder if Hedda did that? (If not, he can see my photos posted on gaythailand.com). The vast majority were there for the reason GaySacGuy points out - CASH. It's all very well organised and there are registration desks for 'protesters' to line up and get the cash. If Thaksin's money was not bankrolling them, there would certainly not be anything like the numbers there. Also, the many women and kids would not be there. For most, it was a sort of street party, with food provided, merchandise stalls and other similar diversions

 

I am not saying that the basic grievances may not be legitimate. But Hedda has also forgotten that most of the people in the red shirt movement are also people who - almost certainly - accepted bribes to vote for Thaksin and his proxies at least once, and probably more than once - just as they did for other crook politicians before then. I do not believe they are fighting for justice and an end to corruption (as many of the placards - in English, let's recall, for they are media savvy - say). They are fighting to regain power so they can gain from the perks of power. In that event, some benefits may well accrue to the poor, but after the many layers of officialdom have taken their cuts, I doubt is the very poor will see much - sadly.

 

So to equate this movement with the "Russian" Revolution - even to equate conditions of the poor in Thailand in 2010 with the ghastly conditions of the serfs in Russia around 100 years ago - and to talk about the "nobility" of its cause is - well, excuse me! That is really some sort of twisted logic.

[Guest gay_grampa]

Condemnation poured in. Simmering public anger at the disruption of daily life now has had an added cause. That a red-shirt leader is a doctor only served to magnify resentment of a public totally losing its patience. weng Tojirakarn, whose son is also a doctor and has been assigned a job at a provincial hospital, reportedly had tried to stop the invasion, but he might not have done enough, or probably the red leadership has become too fragmented to act on consensus anyway.

 

That's from the 'Losing Patience' article. My read of it is the father, a doctor, was an organizer. It was the son, also a doctor, who apparently tried to stop it.

 

Yes, we are reading the same article.

 

Maybe this piece from the Bangkok Post will help explain that Weng was against it:

 

"Mr Weng admitted that the storming of the state hospital last night by a group red-shirts and guards, led by another UDD core leader Payap Panket, was inappropriate."

 

Bangkok Post