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Special--Takeover of Thai hospital



The BurmaNet News
January 24, 2000
Articles on the takeover of a hospital in Ratchaburi, Thailand by 
soldiers from the God's Army faction of ethnic Karen.

****************
BBC: Gunmen seize Thai hospital, taking hostages 

A group of Burmese rebels armed with grenades and automatic weapons have 
stormed a hospital in western Thailand and taken about two hundred 
people captive. 

Doctors in the hospital in Ratchaburi about one-hundred-and-twenty
kilomtres from Bangkok said no one had been hurt in the attack, but that 
the ten gunmen had mined the building and theatened to harm their 
hostages if Thai security forces came too close. 

At least ten elderly hostages have subsequently been released. 
The Thai Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said the gunmen, who are 
from an ethnic Karen rebel group called God's army, had demanded safe 
passage across the nearby Burmese border. 
They also want Thai doctors to accompany them to treat injured 
guerillas.  

The group is reported to have fled into Thailand following recent 
clashes with Burmese troops. Last October, Burmese dissidents briefly 
took over the Burmese embassy in Bangkok before being given safe passage 
to an area controlled by the same Karen rebel group. 

>From the newsroom of the BBC World Service 


AP: Rebels raid hospital in Thailand, official says  
 ASSOCIATED PRESS 
 
BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan. 23 - About 10 men from the Myanmar insurgent 
group God's Army raided a hospital Monday in western Thailand, taking 
hostages and demanding that doctors treat their injured, the Thai 
interior minister and witnesses said.  

       The insurgents also wanted Thai authorities to open the border 
and allow about 200 God's Army soldiers to seek refuge in Thailand, 
Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart told a radio station. Sanan 
arrived Monday in the town of Ratchaburi, situated between the border 
and Bangkok, to negotiate an end to the siege. 

       God's Army rebels have been under sustained attack by Myanmar 
troops since last week at their mountain base near the border. 

       The armed men hijacked a bus near the border and forced the 
driver to take them 45 miles to Ratchaburi, said Boonmak Sirinavakul, 
the local member of parliament. 

       They then raided the hospital and seized the emergency room. 
Police soon surrounded the building, ITV television network reported. 
       
Thai special forces and police deployed in the area. There were no
immediate reports of casualties. 

       The raiders, wearing camouflage and armed with hand grenades and 
assault rifles, tied a grenade to the hospital gate and fired guns in 
the air, ITV television network reported. 

       A nurse inside the building told ITV by mobile telephone that the 
group first captured doctors and nurses, holding guns to their head, and 
held them in the emergency room. Later, they were allowed to move 
around. 

       Some medical personnel had tried changing into plain clothes to
avoid capture, the nurse said. But the insurgents prohibited anyone from 
leaving the hospital, she said, without being identified. 

       ITV reported that one hostage, a nurse, was released five hours
after the takeover. She was said to be ill and badly frightened. 

       God's Army is an insurgent guerrilla group of 200 mostly ethnic
Karen fighters battling the military regime in Myanmar. It is led by
12-year-old twin boys, Luther and Johnny Htoo. Their followers believe 
the boys have mystical powers that make them invulnerable during 
battles.  

       The group has sheltered five student rebels who raided the 
Myanmar Embassy Oct. 1-2 in Bangkok. The students were demanding 
democracy in their homeland, which has been ruled by the military since 
1962. 

       They were given their freedom by the Thai authorities in return 
for the safe release of the hostages from the embassy. 
 
 
       Monday, 24 January, 2000, 06:34 GMT 
BBC: Gunmen seize Thai hospital 
 Burmese rebels were responsible for a siege last year
 
Gunmen have stormed a hospital in Thailand's Ratchaburi province, taking 
a number of people hostage. 

Thai interior minister Sanan Kachornprasart said they were members of 
the Burmese ethnic Karen rebel group known as God's Army. 

Last year, another Karen group linked to God's Army seized the Burmese
embassy in Bangkok. 

"We can confirm that they are God's Army and one of them was in the 
group which seized the Burmese embassy," a senior Thai official told the 
French AFP news agency. 

More than 200 patients and staff were in the hospital when the gunmen
attacked. 

It is not known how many staff and patients have been taken hostage but 
it is reported that the rebels have taken control of the hospital's 
emergency room. 

A bomb has reportedly been placed near the entrance of the building to
prevent security forces attacking. 

Rebel demands 

Sanan Kachornprasart, who played a leading role in the embassy
negotiations, is heading to Ratchaburi, where he hopes he can secure a
similarly peaceful end to this siege. 

The interior minister said he had ordered the security forces to take 
tough action against the attackers, but also to protect the lives of 
patients and medical staff. 

He said the attackers had demanded to be allowed to move freely across 
the Thai-Burmese border. 

They had also demanded that Thai doctors and nurses be sent to treat 
sick and wounded guerrillas, he added. 

Health ministry spokesman Ampol Jindawattana said the group, armed with 
guns and grenades, had arrived at the hospital by bus and had barred 
people from entering or leaving. 

The gang of about 10 rebels fired shots as they seized the building. It 
was unclear if there were any casualties inside the hospital, a police 
officer said. 

Dissident centre 

The hospital in Ratchaburi town, the administrative centre of Ratchaburi 
province, is about 120km west (75 miles) west of Bangkok. 

Ratchaburi province is home to a UN-administered holding centre for
dissident students who have fled military rule in Burma. 

Last October, a group of five Burmese rebels, calling themselves the
Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, took control of the Burmese embassy 
in Bangkok for 25 hours. 

The siege ended peacefully and without any casualties when the gang was 
allowed safe passage to the Thai-Burma border. 

They are believed to have disappeared into an area of Burma where many
ethnic minority groups hostile to the military regime are based. 

God's Army is a splinter group of the main Karen guerrilla group, which 
has been fighting for greater autonomy from the Burmese Government for 
50 years. 

The group is understood to be led by 12-year-old twin boys, who their
followers believe have mystical powers which make them invincible in 
battle 


 
     
 
Gunmen seize Thai hospital, hundreds of hostages taken
	
	
January 24, 2000
Web posted at: 1:44 p.m. HKT (0544 GMT)

BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) -- Ten gunmen with a notorious Myanmar
guerrilla unit stormed a hospital in Thailand Monday taking about 200
patients and staff hostage and issuing demands for medical help for 
injured
followers. 
The men, members of God's Army, were wearing camouflage gear and armed 
with
hand grenades and assault rifles. They tied a grenade to the hospital's
gate and fired guns into the air at the hospital west of Bangkok, local
television reported. 
According to some reports, the attackers, whose group is an ethnic Karen
unit normally based along the Thai-Myanmar border, roughed up some of 
the patients. There were no reports of casualties. The gunmen reportedly 
also laid explosives around the hospital. 

The local ITV television network reported that the armed men raided the 
hospital in Ratchaburi province around 7 a.m. (0000 GMT), and police 
surrounded the building, which is 95 kilometers (60 miles) west of 
Bangkok.  

Teens head God's Army
"God's Army" is headed by teen-aged twin brothers Luther and Johnny 
Htoo. The rebels, who believe the twins have mystical powers making them 
invincible in battle, are fighting Myanmar government forces near the 
Thai-Myanmar border, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) to the west. 

Provincial governor Komain Daengthongdee said that since the hospital 
was close to administrative offices in the town, he had ordered their
evacuation, and that of nearby schools. 

"I am now asking the army to send men to help us as soon as possible,"
Komain added. "At this moment, we believe that the armed men are Karen
guerrillas. We are seeking more details." 

Ratchaburi province is home to a holding center for dissident students 
who fled military rule in neighboring Myanmar. The center is 
administered by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The UNHCR's 
spokesman in Bangkok said he had not yet heard of the hospital's 
seizure. 

Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart told local radio he had ordered
security forces to protect the hostages, but to stand firm against the
insurgents.  

Minister orders tough action
"Firstly, I have ordered security forces to protect the lives of the
hospital staff and the patients. I have also told them to take tough 
action against the attackers," he said. 

Sanan also confirmed the gunmen were demanding that Thai doctors treat
their injured, and that the insurgents wanted Thai authorities to open 
the border to allow God's Army to seek refuge in Thailand. 
Local MP Wichet Kasemthongsri said the group had been involved in 
clashes with Myanmar troops in the past few days, and had fled into 
Thailand. He said they had shot and killed some Thais when they crossed 
the border, but
gave no details. 

God's Army split from mainstream group

God's Army is a band of about 100 Christian fighters based just inside
Myanmar. The group broke away from the mainstream Karen National Union
guerrillas who have been fighting for greater autonomy from the Myanmar 
central government for over 50 years. 

The group is currently providing shelter and protection to five student 
rebels who raided the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok in October last year. 
The students were demanding democracy in their homeland, which has been 
ruled by the military since 1962. 


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