By Ambika Ahuja
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai anti-government protesters were apologetic on Friday a day after a clumsy storming of a hospital that raised questions over whether the movement is losing direction in a two-month crisis that has killed 27 people.
Protest leaders apologised after more than 200 "red shirts" forced their way into Chulalongkorn University Hospital late on Thursday to look for soldiers they accused of preparing an attack, forcing the evacuation of some patients.
They didn't find any and left after roaming for an hour through the grounds, the lobby and car parks, some carrying wooden staves. Some wanted to return on Friday for another search but red shirt leaders ruled it out.
"We truly apologise for any inconvenience caused. Some were very concerned the hospital was harbouring troops," said Weng Tojirakarn, a protest leader.
Weng acknowledged some red shirts have a "cowboy attitude" that presents an image problem for the movement, which is already struggling to get support from middle-class Bangkok.
It was the second setback in a week for thousands of mostly rural and urban poor supporters of ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra after security forces on Wednesday stopped an attempt to hold "mobile rallies" outside their 3 sq-km (1.2 sq-mile) fortified encampment in central Bangkok.
The encampment is slowly becoming "a city within a city," deepening a crisis that Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said could reduce Thailand's economic growth rate by two percentage points if it continues all year.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand expressed confidence in the economy -- Southeast Asia's second largest -- but acknowledged foreign investors have turned cautious, selling $264 million (171.6 million pound) in stocks over the past six trading days. That's driving the baht currency to its largest weekly loss since January.
HOSPITAL INCURSION
The hospital incursion raised concerns about how much control the leaders have over their followers, who range from pro-Thaksin loyalists to democracy activists and farm labourers -- and whether its leaders can maintain discipline over its guards.
It also risks turning public opinion against them, which Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was quick to sense. "I don't think I need to condemn this. I think not just Thai society, but also the international community already is," he said in a televised statement.
A headline in the Thai-language Thaipost newspaper described the protesters as "evil" for barging their way into the hospital. Some residents said the protesters had gone too far.
"They were so audacious and thuggish. It's gone beyond acceptable," said Tana Pariyapan, a 36-year-old office worker.
The hospital is near the Silom business district, scene of a deadly grenade attack on April 22. Hospital director Adisorn Patradul said nearly all patients would be evacuated and only its emergency room would stay open.
Hospital management denies troops are on its site, but thousands of soldiers and riot police are in the area to contain the protest movement.
Tension remains high in Bangkok after a soldier was killed on Wednesday in a clash on a suburban highway packed with vehicles.
The violence is taking its toll on tourism, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy and employs 15 percent of the workforce. Arrivals at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport have fallen by a third since the violence broke out.
Kim Eng Securities, Thailand's top brokerage, warned that investors may still be underestimating the impact unrest is having on economic growth. "With 60 percent of GDP growth hinging on consumption, there is downside risk," it said.
Hopes of a deal to end the violence faded last weekend after British-born and Oxford-educated Abhisit rejected a red shirt proposal for an election in three months, saying he would not negotiate in the face of threats.
The red shirts oppose what they say is the unelected royalist elite that controls Thailand and broadly back Thaksin, who was toppled in a coup in 2006 but before that built up a following among the poor through rural development and welfare policies.
The former telecoms tycoon was convicted in absentia on corruption-related charges and lives abroad to avoid jail.
(Additional reporting by the Bangkok bureau; Writing by Jason Szep; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
