When a handful of heavily armed God's Army rebels entered this country from Myanmar, they were confused about what soft target to seize in their bid to tell Thailand's military to stop its allegedly murderous bombardment of innocent Myanmar civilians along the border.
They also felt emboldened by a mix of Christian and animist powers said to immortalize the two, "black-tongued," 12-year-old leaders of God's Army -- and all minority ethnic Karen guerrillas who obey the influential twins.
But about 24 hours after entering Thailand, all of the 10 Myanmar Karen rebels lay dead inside the sprawling hospital they had brazenly captured in tranquil Ratchaburi town.
Whatever spiritual powers the self-proclaimed God's Army guerrillas may have believed in obviously failed when Thai guns blazed in pre-dawn darkness yesterday morning, liberating the hospital and several hundred terrified patients, visitors and medical staff.
Yet the God's Army rebels not only lost their lives but also destroyed much of the tolerance Thailand grants to Myanmar refugees, pro-democracy activists, minority ethnic guerrillas, government-in-exile politicians and others who cross the border seeking sanctuary while fleeing Myanmar's dictatorship and dry-season military offensives.
The Geneva Conventions drawn up after World War II lists as potential war crimes both the use of a hospital in any conflict, and the intentional targeting of refugees.
In relation to the guerrilla's allegation that Thai forces had been killing escaping Myanmar refugees along the border by bombing them, international law also forbids all such acts.
The Thai military however strongly denied intentionally bombing Myanmar civilians along the nearby border, and insisted its forces had fired last week to chase away armed intruders.
"We fired warning shots to prevent them crossing," said Thailand's Army Chief, General Surayud Chulanont. "The rounds fell in our territory and were not directed at innocent people."
The Bangkok Post yesterday quoted unidentified "security sources" as saying the shelling by Thai forces may have been in response to the deaths of four Thai soldiers in December who reportedly stepped on landmines in the jungle which were planted by Myanmar's Karen rebels.
One source told the paper, "The bombardment (last week) might have killed and injured many in the area. We don't have an exact figure, but the Karen estimate of 200 dead might be exaggerated."
The Nation newspaper said the rebels purposely timed their hospital attack to coincide with the eve of Thai Army Day, which annually hails the bravery of the powerful, politicized and business-minded military.
"Obviously, the gunmen wanted to deliver a strong message to the military, especially to the Ninth Army Division of the First Army Area, which is taking care of the area."
In addition to other demands, the guerrillas urged "the Thai Army to stop assisting the Myanmar Army, and that Thai commanders who ordered the artillery shelling of their camp, should be reprimanded," the report added.
Thai authorities at the hospital, meanwhile, indicated they had little choice but to act tough to end the stand-off because in October, Bangkok allowed a similar group of rebels to take control of Myanmar embassy in the Thai capital and then enjoy safe passage to escape.
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