Yossak Kosayakanont, a law lecturer at Kasem Bandit Univer-sity, pierced his finger with a

wooden toothpick and applied blood to his ballot at a polling

station located at a kindergarten on Lat Phrao 87.

He said that as a law lecturer

he had studied the election law and was confident he had not committed an electoral offence, because he had not intended to invalidate the ballot or create a disturbance.

He said the act was meant as a protest against the EC be-cause instead of acting as a "strong rod" that could be used to check the government, it was a "toothpick" used as a tool by the powerful.

He added that originally he had intended to use a metal cutter to cut open his finger, but his wife had warned him that it would seem too violent.

"I had to pierce my finger many times before the blood came out," he said.

Yossak said he believed the EC would have to hold many election rounds in order to fill the 500 House seats as required by the Constitution and he urged the public to engage in civil disobedience by using red pens to mark their ballots.

He said that if the EC de-clares his ballot invalid, he would file a complaint with the Administrative Court.

Bangkok EC director Chaina-rong Thienmongkol said he personally believed that Yossak had not broken any law and that his ballot was valid.

He said the election official in charge of the area where Yossak voted would decide whether to invalidate the ballot.