Thailand's best-known public hospital evacuated more than 200 patients Friday, after a raid by anti-government protestors the previous night raised security concerns, according to dpa. Chulalongkorn Hospital decided to move patients from its wing on Ratchadamri Road to other hospitals in the city after about 50 anti-government protestors forced their way in to the building Thursday night to search for soldiers and snipers. None were found. Chulalongkorn Hospital, situated in the heart of Bangkok, is one of the capital's most popular public hospitals. United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) co-leader Weng Tojirakam, a medical doctor, acknowledged that the hospital raid had been ill-advised. "I think there was some misunderstanding," Weng said. The UDD, which has occupied the area around the hospital for the past three weeks, claimed its supporters had seen soldiers in the hospital and feared they would fire on them from the rooftops. The UDD, also called the red shirts, have put up barricades of rubber tyres and sharpened bamboo poles at the intersection in front of the hospital to block a sudden attack from troops stationed across the street. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva reiterated Friday that the government was working on stricter measures to deal with the red shirts, who have been protesting in Bangkok since March 12 and have occupied a prime shopping district around Ratchaprasong intersection since April 3. Pressure is building on Abhisit to end the UDD protest, which is damaging the country's tourism sector and creating losses in retail sales of some 10 million dollars per day in the area around Ratchaprasong alone. Abhisit faces numerous obstacles in removing the red shirts, who number between 5,000 and 30,000 depending on the time of day. The UDD is calling on Abhisit to dissolve parliament and hold new elections. Failing that, they are keen to force a crackdown that would tarnish Abhisit's reputation. "The government is trying to turn Ratchaprasong into a killing field," Weng told the German Press Agency dpa. So far, 27 people have died in protest-related violence with the latest clash occurring Wednesday when troops used barricades and rubber bullets to prevent 2,000 UDD followers from leaving Bangkok for neighbouring Pathum Thani province to stage a demonstration. The highway showdown left one soldier dead and 18 civilians wounded. Abhisit has alleged that "terrorists" working within the UDD used military weapons such as grenade launchers against the troops.
