The announcement was made after questions emerged about the hospital’s practices when pictures were posted online showing signs inside the hospital warning of electricity charges of Bt30 a day.

The signs were posted only to deter “inappropriate power charging”, the hospital stated.

The signs showed cell phones and a rice cooker plugged into the hospital’s electrical sockets.

“This is a state hospital and no one wants to come to the hospital for charging [their devices],” the sign stated.

When asked about the pictures, hospital director Dr Chokechai Manadee said on Wednesday that nurses had posted the signs to tell people not to use electricity by charging cell phones.

“That increases the risk of short circuits. Such cases have caused power failure several times already,” he said.