Thai Protesters Splash Blood Near Leaders' Offices

(March 16) -- Opposition protesters in Thailand splashed gallons of their own blood in front of government offices today, more than three years after a military coup deposed a popular leader.

In Tuesday's bizarre blood drive, thousands of the so-called "Red Shirt" demonstrators extended their forearms to a volunteer army of nurses, allowed their blood to be drawn and collected in plastic water jugs, then poured it on the ground outside the gates of central government's headquarters. The Associated Press reports that minutes after the blood was spilled, a government medical team attempted to wash it away with hoses.

The demonstration was the culmination of weekend protests against what they call an undemocratic and elitist Thai regime. Many of the Red Shirts -- named for the color they wear -- are supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a 2006 military coup and now lives in exile in Dubai.

They accuse the current prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, of taking power undemocratically with the backing of Bangkok elites, and demand that he call new elections. The protests began Friday and were also timed in reaction to a ruling by the Thai Supreme Court last month that froze most of Thaksin's more than $2 billion fortune.

More than 50,000 Thai troops are deployed across the country, armed with water cannons, sound wave machines, tear gas and batons. Last week the government invoked a security law that gives the military special powers to restore order if necessary, with the authority to ban large gatherings and impose curfews.

But so far the rallies have been largely peaceful, with up to 100,000 demonstrators -- many of them farmers from Thailand's rural north where Thaksin is still popular -- converging on Bangkok waving placards with messages like "No Justice, No Peace" and "We Need True Democracy." Two soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack Monday at a Bangkok army base, but there's been none of the large-scale violence that broke out last time the Red Shirts organized in such numbers, in April 2009, when clashes with government troops left two people dead and scores injured.

Still, the Wall Street Journal reports that this time around, some Red Shirts threatened that should security forces attempt to forcefully disperse the protests, they would resist by lobbing human feces at them, adding yet another unsavory biological product to the mix.

Red Shirt leader Veera Musikapong was the first to donate blood in Bangkok this morning. "This blood is a sacrificial offering. To show our love for the nation, to show our sincerity," he told reporters from several news agencies. He added that the blood would be spilled unless the prime minister dissolves parliament before noon local time.

Meanwhile the Thai parliament has postponed a session planned for today, after many ministers -- including Abhisit -- didn't show up.

On Monday, the prime minister addressed his nation on television and indicated he might be open to compromise with the Red Shirts. "Asking for the dissolution of parliament before noon in exchange for a halt to the demonstrations, we all agreed it can't be done," Abhisit said. "However, it doesn't mean the government coalition parties and I won't listen to their ideas."

Protest leaders hoped to collect 1,000 liters (264 gallons) of blood to douse on the entrance to offices of the prime minister and other government officials; yet initial reports have suggested only about half as much was collected so far. But protesters aren't giving up, saying that they will attempt to collect another 1,000 liters on Wednesday and repeat the demonstration if Parliament remains undissolved, according to CNN.

"If Abhisit is still stubborn, even though he does not have blood on his hands, his feet will be bloodied with our curses," another Red Shirt leader, Nattawut Saikur, told the crowd on Tuesday.

Some Thais believe that drenching one's feet in blood invokes a ritual curse.

But health officials, including the local Red Cross in Thailand, have expressed concern about how hygienic it is to splash thousands of people's blood in a public area. Many of the protesters have been camped out in Bangkok's streets for days, and could be worn down and unfit to donate blood.

"Protesters who have been out in the sun for so many days may be fatigued and sleep deprived, so it's not good to lose blood," Dr. Ubonwon Charoonruangrit, a senior official with the Thai Red Cross, told The Associated Press. He said he's worried that today's blood drive could be "very risky" if left to untrained people, and warned that a needle should not be used twice.

Red Shirt leaders sought to reassure donors that the process was safe. "We have three tents for blood donations. All people who conduct the blood drawing will be doctors, nurses or other qualified people who came here voluntarily," a doctor volunteering in the protest movement's blood drive, Weng Tojilakarn, told the BBC.

Several orange-robed Buddhist monks, who are forbidden by law from taking part in political activities, were among the protesters first in line to donate blood this morning. Nearby an announcer with a megaphone shouted at people waiting to donate, "This blood belongs to fighters for democracy! What is its color? Red!"

A spokesman for the group that organizes Red Shirt protests, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, told The Times newspaper of London that blood had been taken from 10,000 volunteers already by 10 a.m. local time. "Everybody agreed, it's a symbolic sacrifice, it's a special bond with the Thais who fought for democracy and shed their blood in the past," said Sean Boonpracong. "Blood is life."