Police officers from the Metropolitan Police Bureau are now providing security protection at the Police General Hospital, where former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is receiving medical treatment.
An urgent memo signed by the commander of the Metropolitan Police Division 6 Pol Maj Gen Nakarin Sukontawit instructed officers to form a special team at Pathumwan Police Station to respond to any potential incident at the Police General Hospital. The memo called for a rapid response team composed of a police inspector, a sub-inspector, and 4 non-commissioned police officers to be on standby at Pathumwan Police Station. The officers must be able to respond to an order within 15 minutes.
This rapid response team is being commissioned from 24 August to 31 August, or until the mission is complete.
There have been suspicions about the possibility of Mr. Thaksin being transferred from the Police General Hospital to a private facility. In response, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Justice Sahakarn Petchnarin said saving an inmate’s life is necessary, which would justify if a sick patient is transferred to another hospital if his condition is beyond the treatment capabilities available at the Police General Hospital. The transfer will however be considered based on medical necessity.
Mr. Sahakarn said however that there is currently no need for Mr. Thaksin to be transferred to a private hospital, adding that the hospital to which Mr. Thaksin could be transferred to would be decided by the doctors and the Department of Corrections. (NNT)
