Red Shirts ‘sorry’ for Bangkok hospital raid

Patients had to be removed from a Bangkok hospital when Red Shirt protesters stormed the building in a hunt for government security forces.

All services except emergency surgery were suspended today, even though the rebels withdrew after failing to find any soldiers or police at Chulalongkorn Hospital in the crisis-hit Thai capital during the late-night raid.

Police were today guarding the grounds amid fears of a second raid. But one Red Shirt leader, Weng Tojirakarn — also a doctor — issued a "deep apology" for the break-in by 100 protesters, calling it "inappropriate and unreasonable".

One of many patients turned away from the hospital today, a man called Purin Supadith, said: "They can protest all they want but they should not come here, and they should not have prevented us from receiving service."

Prime minister Abbhisit Vejjajiva, whom the protesters want to overthrow, attacked the raid on national television and criticised other Red Shirt protests that have paralysed parts of central Bangkok.

"We will not allow any movements that pose threats to the public," he said.

Despite warnings, the Red Shirts, who began their protests on March 12 in their campaign to force immediate elections, have continued to defy the authorities — entering the parliament building, laying siege to a telecoms complex, blocking roads and staging mass rallies.