Thai anti-government protesters were apologetic yesterday a day after a clumsy storming of a hospital that raised questions over whether the movement is losing direction in a two-month crisis that has killed 27 people.
Protest leaders apologized after more than 200 Red Shirts forced their way into Chulalongkorn University Hospital late on Thursday to look for soldiers they accused of preparing an attack, forcing the evacuation of some patients.
They didn’t find any and left after roaming for an hour through the grounds, the lobby and car parks, some carrying wooden staves. Some wanted to return yesterday for another search, but Red Shirt leaders ruled it out.
“We truly apologize for any inconvenience caused. Some were very concerned the hospital was harboring troops,” said Weng Tojirakarn, a protest leader.
Weng acknowledged some Red Shirts have a “cowboy attitude” that presents an image problem for the movement, which is already struggling to get support from middle-class Bangkok.
It was the second setback in a week for thousands of mostly rural and urban poor supporters of ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra after security forces on Wednesday stopped an attempt to hold “mobile rallies” outside their 3km² fortified encampment in central Bangkok.
The encampment is slowly becoming “a city within a city,” deepening a crisis that Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said could reduce Thailand’s economic growth rate by 2 percentage points if it continues all year.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand expressed confidence in the economy — Southeast Asia’s second largest — but acknowledged foreign investors have turned cautious, selling US$264 million in stocks over the past six trading days.
That’s driving the baht currency to its largest weekly loss since January.
The hospital incursion raised concerns about how much control the leaders have over their followers, who range from pro-Thaksin loyalists to democracy activists and farm laborers — and whether its leaders can maintain discipline over its guards.
It also risks turning public opinion against them, which Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was quick to sense.
“I don’t think I need to condemn this. I think not just Thai society, but also the international community already is,” he said in a televised statement.
A headline in the Thai-language Thaipost newspaper described the protesters as “evil” for barging their way into the hospital. Some residents said the protesters had gone too far.
“They were so audacious and thuggish. It’s gone beyond acceptable,” 36-year-old office worker Tana Pariyapan said.
The hospital is near the Silom business district, scene of a deadly grenade attack on April 22. Hospital director Adisorn Patradul said nearly all patients would be evacuated and only its emergency room would stay open.
Hospital management denies troops are on its site, but thousands of soldiers and riot police are in the area to contain the protest movement.
Tension remains high in Bangkok after a soldier was killed on Wednesday in a clash on a suburban highway packed with vehicles.
The violence is taking its toll on tourism, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy and employs 15 percent of the workforce.
Arrivals at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport have fallen by a third since the violence broke out.
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