Hospitals' crisis response excellent, shameful

When help had not arrived after 30 minutes I called my wife again. The local hospital less than 10 kilometres away would not send the ambulance because ironically it was being used for emergency response training. The hospital refused to provide any further assistance or alternative.

Apparently the hospital does not have a procedure for when their ambulance is unavailable which is incredible since the ambulance will predictably be unavailable from time to time.

After an hour of waiting I was driven to the government hospital in Si Maho Sot by a local shopkeeper. The emergency unit staff provided initial treatment and diagnosed the extent of the injury. Being a complex leg fracture it was decided to transfer me to the government hospital in Prachin Buri.

From there I was transferred to Vibharam Hospital in Bangkok where I underwent reconstructive surgery eight hours after the accident.

First, brickbats to the local hospital for abandoning people in life-threatening emergencies. Disgraceful and shameful conduct, if not criminal.

Secondly, bouquets to the emergency department staff of the government hospitals in Si Maho Sot and Prachin Buri. The standard of treatment, concern for my wellbeing and compassion shown by orderlies, nurses and doctors were equal to or better than any hospital I have experienced anywhere.

A job very well done and for which I am most thankful. Their work and that of the excellent surgeons at Vibharam Hospital should result in a full recovery.

Had it been left to the local hospital I would have bled to death.

STEVE PEDROTTA

BANGKOK

'Disgraceful' toilets at Chiang Mai centre

For years I have been a regular shopper at Central Kad Suan Kaew Shopping Centre on Huay Kaew Road in Chiang Mai.

None of the toilets there have water hoses. Nor do they provide soap or anything else for washing hands.The washbasin taps are the old-fashioned type that have to be held to use for washing hands.

For a modern shopping centre, the toilets are a disgrace.Many people who work there handle food and I have never seen any of them use soap or anything else to wash their hands with. For Central to claim that they are doing everything possible to combat swine flu is a farce.

RICHARD O'BRYEN

CHIANG MAI

Yellow shirts went too far alarming foreigners

Ref: "Inconvenience and violence are two different things", Letters, July 11.

I like Thanida Dugdale's differentiation of inconvenience and violence. It is a question of degree.

Were my foreign friends inconvenienced by the airport closure? Undoubtedly, yes. Were my friends threatened by the so-called non-violent crowd at the airport? The answer again is "yes" because mobs can become unruly and violence sparked by any discontent. Fear was in their faces and a few broke up in tears. They prayed for the PAD's kindness in lifting up the skies.

Maybe the degree was not to the level of being "caught" by Somali pirates or the Philippine Islamist Abu Sayyaf, but the captured syndrome was the same.

I am not a supporter of the yellow or the red shirts but I do admire Chamlong Srimuang as a person with a social conscience. Though I can accept the encroachment on our Government House because the consequences were restricted to our own people, the yellow shirts went too far in causing "inconvenience" to our foreign guests who had no stake in our politics.

I do not mind how the airport closure can be called an act of terrorism or civil disobedience, but I would like to see justice served to preclude future recurrences.

SONGDEJ PRADITSMANONT

BANGKOK