Relief distributions by The Thai Red Cross Society are underway for residents unable to access food supplies. (p-THA0135)
Lasse Norgaard, International Federation communication delegate, Bangkok
The leaders of the Red Shirt Movement gave themselves up to police on Wednesday afternoon and recommended that protesters leave the site they have been occupying for many weeks in central Bangkok.
The surrender came after a morning of heavy fighting and skirmishes, not only in the Red Zone, but also elsewhere in the city. The army and police lined up early Wednesday morning around the occupied areas prompting protesters to set fire to one of their main barricades. During the early morning, the area, including the Thai Red Cross hospital, was filled with thick smoke.
The Red Cross hospital has already moved patients away from the roads and has a contingency staff of nurses and doctors ready to receive the wounded. The Thai Red Cross Society also has ambulance teams on standby to take the wounded to hospitals, including other hospitals outside the occupied areas.
The surrender of the Red Shirt leaders does not necessarily mean an end to the fighting or to the security alert in the city. In fact, skirmishes continue and some protesters have said they will not go home.
The Thai Red Cross hospital has received a few injured patients and some dead as a result of the fighting on Wednesday morning. Yesterday, the Thai Red Cross Society distributed food parcels and hygiene sets to the women and children who had sought refuge in the temple grounds inside the occupied area.
Additionally, The Thai Red Cross Society distributed food parcels, in cooperation with other agencies, to residents who have been caught in the no-go areas between the army's and protesters' barricades since Friday.