As the most traumatic week in Thailand’s recent history draws to a close, a number of videos are beginning to circulate, which show some perspectives that international press ignored during the months building up to Wednesday’s crackdown and clearing of the Red Shirt encampments in the centre of the city.

These videos, especially the first one below, demonstrate why the Red Shirt rally was never intended to be a peaceful political protest, but that far darker motives were behind the events.

With several key Red Shirt leaders in custody, statements by, and interviews with, former colleagues and associates are starting to circulate. Asia Times Online published a major article last week, long but worth reading in full, regarding the common history of Red Shirt leaders trained by Vietnamese Communists 30-40 years ago. In particular the reference to the five point strategy for toppling an incumbent government is clearly identifiable within Red Shirt tactics of the last few years.

This video compilation chronicles the use of weapons by the “Peaceful Protesters for Democracy” within their fortified city-centre encampment in Bangkok during clashes this week – a week during which Thaksin Shinawatra was reported as shopping in exile at Louis Vuitton and Prada in Paris, with his daughter who fled Thailand as the Red Shirts marched on Bangkok two months ago.

Today, the Thai army and police have displayed to the media, a large haul of weapons, including M16 assault rifles, that they discovered within the former Red Shirt controlled zone. This follows yesterday’s display of a cache of weapons and ammunition found within Wat Pratum from the edge of that zone, where hundreds of Red Shirt women and children went for sanctuary during the worst of the fighting on Wednesday. Arrested from within that crowd were two armed Red Shirt guards.

Several Thais I have spoken to are shocked and disgusted that the Red Shirts would use a Buddhist temple as an arms cache. They are shocked more about this than that six people were shot and killed by snipers in that temple, two of them voluntary nurses/paramedics, and a seventh who died in hospital from gunshot wounds. The Red Shirt guards are reported as having indoctrinated the women and children that if they left the temple, the army would shoot them. The Thai police had a long and difficult task persuading them otherwise.

Reports today have been made that the Thai forensics division found six fully loaded car bombs within the Red Zone, and that they were prepared ready for detonation, but not triggered.