With the Thai government refusing to step down by the Tuesday deadline, “red shirt” protesters kept their promise of pouring blood before the gates of Government House in Bangkok, Tuesday afternoon, local time.
Conducting a Brahman ritual, an oddity for predominantly Buddhist Thailand, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) spilled out the blood collected from protesters onto the ground before all four gates of government headquarters. According to the Bangkok Post, twelve 5-liter bottles, two large buckets, and fifty syringes (total) of blood was collected from protesters and about 60 opposition members of parliament.
The grisly, yet orderly, show was mainly a media event witnessed by only a handful of UDD protesters, plus a slew of media and some police. A crowd of red shirt protesters was kept back from the building by police, and they did not try to press forward.
After the ceremony was complete, medical staff clad in full protective clothing scrubbed the ground clean.
Another ritual has been planned for Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s house on Wednesday.
The tens of thousands of red shirt protesters are supporters of ex-Prime Minster Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a bloodless coup in 2006. Thaksin was recently convicted on corruption charges, and $1.4 billion of his assets were ordered seized. He is currently living in exile in Dubai but believed to be keeping a tight hand on events in Bangkok.
The protesters are demanding the current government to resign to make way for fresh elections.
Medical personnel reportedly collected the 300,000 cc’s of blood from protesters. Thailand has a significant problem with HIV AIDS.
Conducting a Brahman ritual, an oddity for predominantly Buddhist Thailand, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) spilled out the blood collected from protesters onto the ground before all four gates of government headquarters. According to the Bangkok Post, twelve 5-liter bottles, two large buckets, and fifty syringes (total) of blood was collected from protesters and about 60 opposition members of parliament.
The grisly, yet orderly, show was mainly a media event witnessed by only a handful of UDD protesters, plus a slew of media and some police. A crowd of red shirt protesters was kept back from the building by police, and they did not try to press forward.
After the ceremony was complete, medical staff clad in full protective clothing scrubbed the ground clean.
Another ritual has been planned for Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s house on Wednesday.
The tens of thousands of red shirt protesters are supporters of ex-Prime Minster Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a bloodless coup in 2006. Thaksin was recently convicted on corruption charges, and $1.4 billion of his assets were ordered seized. He is currently living in exile in Dubai but believed to be keeping a tight hand on events in Bangkok.
The protesters are demanding the current government to resign to make way for fresh elections.
Medical personnel reportedly collected the 300,000 cc’s of blood from protesters. Thailand has a significant problem with HIV AIDS.
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