In one of the bloodiest protests I’ve ever heard about, anti-government “Red Shirt” protesters in Thailand donated blood for their protest to spill at the Thai government headquarters. Their protest was for a new election to be called. They collected enough blood to fill 1,000 standard soft drink bottles. This is definitely one of those things that belongs in the “finger-chopping whacky” category.
The Red Cross has denounced the protest as wasteful and unhygienic because diseases such as hepatitis and HIV can be spread if needles are reused.
A number of Buddhist monks, who are forbidden by law from taking part in political activities, were among the first to give blood.
About Curzon
Lord George Nathaniel Curzon (1859 - 1925) entered the British House of Commons as a Conservative MP in 1886, where he served as undersecretary of India and Foreign Affairs. He was appointed Viceroy of India at the turn of the 20th century where he delineated the North West Frontier Province,
ordered a military expedition to Tibet, and unsuccessfully tried to partition the province of Bengal during his six-year tenure. Curzon served as Leader of the House of Lords in Prime Minister Lloyd George's War Cabinet and became Foreign Secretary in January 1919, where his most famous act was
the drawing of the Curzon Line between a new Polish state and Russia. His publications include
Russia in Central Asia (1889) and
Persia and the Persian Question (1892).
In real life, "Curzon" is a US citizen from the East Coast who has been a financial analyst, freelance translator, and university professor; he is currently on assignment in Tokyo.
I agree with the Red Cross that such a protest is wasteful.
On the other hand, it would be hard to argue, as is often the case with protesters in the US, that these people were agitating for agitation’s sake and that they weren’t really invested in their cause.
Pingback: ROK Drop Weekly Linklets – March 21, 2010 | ROK Drop
Wow. This is mostly gross, but also incredibly symbolic.
“When [Prime Minister] Abhisit [Vejjajiva] works in his office, he will be reminded that he is sitting on the people’s blood.”