Thai protests turn bloody - but not violent

Protesters spilled their own blood at the gates of Thailand's government headquarters yesterday in a colourful act of political theatre designed to propel their fugitive hero back to power.

Thousands of "Red Shirts" loyal to deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra queued up during the day to donate blood in makeshift tents, where it was poured from syringes into five-litre water bottles for the bizarre spectacle.

Red leaders said they had collected 300 litres of blood, far short of their aim of 1,000 litres, most of which they poured at the Government House gates in the late afternoon to press their demand for snap elections.

They later took some of the blood to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrat party offices for a second protest, where a Hindu priest began the symbolic spilling by invoking a curse against the government.

The demonstrators said they would march to Mr Abhisit's residence in central Bangkok this morning as they step up their campaign, though the premier will not be there.

The bloody show was the latest part of a pro-Thaksin demonstration which has drawn up to 100,000 protesters to the streets of Bangkok since the weekend, according to police, watched over by 50,000 security forces personnel.

The Hindu priest, wearing a traditional white outfit and with bare feet, knelt down in the blood to wipe his hands in it, before raising them aloft. Others then joined in, creating pools of blood at the steps of the offices.

"This blood is to show our commitment in calling for democracy. This is an important curse ritual," said Red leader Nattawut Saikur.

The Red Shirts, whose numbers appeared to be dwindling, held the blood bottles in the air triumphantly as they rode on trucks followed by thousands of supporters and monitored by riot police.

They are protesting against the perceived elitism and illegitimacy of the Abhisit government, which came to power via a December 2008 parliamentary vote after a controversial court ruling ousted Mr Thaksin's allies.

Last month another court decision confiscated $1.4 billion from Mr Thaksin, whose followers are largely from the poor rural north and fervently support the populist policies he introduced before being ousted in a 2006 coup. They began their blood drive yesterday morning despite hygiene concerns raised by health officials. Organisers insisted only qualified medics were collecting donations, using one needle per person.