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Thai "Red Shirts" collect blood for symbolic protest |
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(03/16/2010)
Bangkok, PAB-Online
Thailand's red-clad protesters rallying in Bangkok collected their own
blood Tuesday, to be spilled at the entrance of government offices if
their demands for snap elections are not met.
Hundreds of "Red Shirts," who back fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, were queuing up in the capital to offer a small amount of their blood in an unusual gesture of their determination, AFP reporters witnessed.
Red Shirt leader Veera Musikapong was the first to donate, saying: "This blood is a sacrificial offering. To show our love for the nation, to show our sincerity."
The group is protesting against the perceived elitism and illegitimacy of the government, which came to power via a December 2008 parliamentary vote that followed a controversial court ruling ousting Thaksin's allies.
Tens of thousands of the Red Shirts have massed in the streets of Bangkok since the weekend amid tight security. Many are from the poor rural north and support the populist platform of Thaksin, who was deposed in a 2006 coup.
Senior Reds said their blood would be spilled at the entrance to Government House in Bangkok's historic quarter at 6.00pm (1100 GMT) if Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva continued to refuse their demands to dissolve parliament.
"If Abhisit is still stubborn, even though he does not have blood on his hands, his feet will be bloodied with our curses," another leader Nattawut Saikur said.
Authorities raised health fears about the blood-letting plan after it was announced late Monday.
"Experts are worried and concerned that protesters could contract diseases using needles for blood drawing," said public health minister Jurin Laksanawisit in a statement.
But protest organisers insisted the procedures were safe, using one needle per person.
"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," said senior Red Shirt Weng Tojilakarn, also a doctor himself. (AFp/IP)
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