Masked health officials diligently scrubbed away the blood the red shirts splattered at the gates of Government House and nearby roads yesterday evening.
The protesters spilled their blood as a symbolic gesture to push Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve the House.
However, as soon as most of the red shirts left, trained officials started cleaning up. Since blood is considered infectious waste, authorities took all precautions and clean-up measures. Each cleaner had to wear gloves and keep his mouth and nose well covered.
Dr Chaiwan Charoencho-ketavee, director of BMA Medical College and Vajira Hospital, said the clean-up operation was conducted in accordance with academic principles.
"We also used disinfectant," he said.
After the initial scrub up by the health officials, cleaners from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration had another go at the job. The cleaning teams also cleaned up the blood splashed at Democrat Party headquarters.
Meanwhile, chief royal Brahmin Phrarajakhru Varma Dhepmuni said the anointing of the blood at Government House's gates carried out by a man clad in white yesterday was not an auspicious ceremony.
"It was not a Brahmin ritual either," he said.
Meanwhile, many groups seeking support for the sick lambasted the red shirts for wasting their blood.
"Why don't they think of the patients who are waiting for blood? This blood could have been used to save lives," Saichol sae Lim said in her capacity as vice chairwoman of cancer care at Chi Dynamics Thailand.
Meanwhile, the Medical Council yesterday vowed to discuss the ethics of red-shirt leader Dr Weng Tojirakarn at next month's meeting.
"It's not appropriate for a doctor to draw blood in such a manner," secretary-general Samphan Komrit said.
Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit yesterday said eight red-shirt demonstrators suffered from diarrhoea.
Sources said they developed the symptoms after drinking a sweet beverage handed out for free at the rally site.
