When vats of human blood were spilled by Thailand's Red Shirt movement in the early stages of its "million man" march two months ago, it was described by some in the establishment and some analysts as a desperate cultural stunt designed to shock the authorities into taking the 150,000-strong movement seriously.

The rallies did not catch on with the wider public.

But the blood-spilling tactic was also a veiled political threat. Jaran Ditapichai, a leader belonging to United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship or UDD put it this way: by staging "the biggest demonstration in Thai history," they planned to make Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva choose between "dissolution (of the House) or suppression.