Thai Government Accuses Reds Over Huge Weapons Cache

[rabo]

Ass! Airport seizure didnt involve any M-79's or RPG's! Nobody got hurt. Is that an act of terroism?

Well, once you sobered up you might want to read the definition of a terrorist act. Like your tag line and location, revealing.

Terrorist: a person who uses or favours violent and intimidating methods of coercing a government or community.

Concise Oxford Dictionary, 8th ed. 1990

The yellows very carefully cleaned all their mess at that airport and left it spotless. The staff working their commented that nothing was out of place and no one fooled with any of the system or computers..

They did not terrorize anyone to my knowledge. They were inconvenientists or preventorists.

Edited May 22, 2010 by rabo

[rubl]

If the army could have moved in regardless of consequences, it would have been 1 -2 troops injured, protesters either dead or nearly so. In the 5 days cleanup of Rachaprasong 'only' 54 dead. Again a real crachdown would have fill mass-graves.

The fact that we lots of wounded troops and a few dead just symbolizes the restraint with which the army moved in.

<deleted>? only 54 dead and only hundreds injured, must have been are real clean cleanup and not a massacre - what a logic.

What next? A nomination for the Nobel peace prize?

So what do you think would have been the best course of action?

Sorry to interrupt, dttk0009, but it was a response on my reply (thanks for support anyway)

I didn't say 'clean' cleanup, only one full of restrain. If the army eally had have a free hand, we could have had 1000s dead or seriously wounded. Now 54 dead, 1800 wounded, but only 200 or so left in hospital. Whether you want to believe reports on armed resistance or not, torched buildings are in sight, many videos are available. If I had been a young trooper going in any who starts to provoke me, start throwing rocks, molotov cocktails, fires M79's, I would shoot! I maybe wrong, luckily those troopers has higher boiling points than I have.

[Thai at Heart]

This stuff was so hard to find it took them 3 days to get it out on the TV and the news? There have been hundreds of reporters around and around the site.

They've actually been reporting it since they first took over the Red main site 3 days ago:

Troops reclaim Ratchaprasong rally site

BANGKOK, 19 May 2010 (NNT) — CRES Spokesperson, Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd announced in a televised broadcast at 14.00 hrs that the troops have reclaimed Ratchaprosong Intersection, the main rally site of the anti-government demonstrators of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).

The officers found massive weapon stockpile at the site, especially a depot of M79 grenade launchers being used against state officers.

The radical demonstrators this morning have illegally intruded and set the fire at government agencies and civilians’ households.

A picture speaks a thousand words. We are in Thailand, hardly the land of the free when it comes to the media.

So they found the stuff on the 19th. If I remember the BBC was walking around the protest site by mid afternoon, and yet despite this incredibly huge find of weaponry, not one journalist managed to get a picture. I am trying to imagine what a "massive" find of guns looks like.

100, 200, 1000 weapons, and yet there were people using slingshots? If there were that many weapons in this massive find, it would appear that the master plan wasn't acted upon by the reds. One can only wonder why?

[SiamRose]

You are, naturally, assuming that the red shirts only targeted soldiers and not innocent bystanders, medics and reporters, right?

Wrong. I am saying that if the reds had used the "war weapons" the government claims they had then a lot more soldiers and a lot more civilians would be dead. Perhaps you have never seen what an M60 can do.

[simonmiller]

The Alliance for Democracy is fronting the same back-room leadership. Best to be even more wary of this group than the UDD coalition. There are fewer peace-lovers enjoined with them. They are more hard-left, from first looks.

The shooters are not routed. They fled, doshed their kit, and are laying low. They still serve the same cause - overthrow of the governemt. A real and apparently newly emerging threat, they have been coming together for about 12 years now.

Weapons caches were set up at several points around the original planned rally points. The failure to stay with the locations that were pre-selected was a key weakness in the reds strategy, and deprived them of their offensive battle plan "A". After april 9, the shooters re-grouped to discuss the shocking realization that were not staged in a way that supported their planning. That night, as teams went out to move weapons, the militray observed and reported some of these movements, and this alarming series of reports was partly responsible for the violence of April 10, these actions were misconstrued as a mobilization for a heavy assault by reds on the police.

From that point onward, the police were withdrawn and the army was postured more seriously, understanding how well-armed the reds really were.

Those of you who kept saying the reds are not armed, and that are now saying the weapons are propaganda:

You are a ridiculous bunch of know-nothing poo-talkers. The movement to overthrow is very very real.

We farangs need to stay out of these politics. Thai people do not share all of our values. They do not make choices like we westerners. And definitely not like you red-loving westernerds.

The help our governments provided in intelligence and military training and equipment was timely and very good.

It will continue to be so. Any duly elected government in the kingdom can count on our unconditional support, regardless of their political leanings. Any faction that seeks to overthrow can count on our sincere efforts to help stop them.

Reconciliation and ACCOMODATION FOR ALL SIDES, now underway, is the solution. It is supported by everyone who loves the country, no matter what their party loyalty. Trying to leave one bunch out in the cold, however completely guilty they may be, just is not the Thai way. They will come to an arrangement that provides for the needs of all parties, being just some little bit wiser than the average non-buddhist, on the knowledge that ONLY this kind of accomodation can acheive a durable peace.

Choke Dee, Kon Kon Thai.

An interesting post, seemingly direct from the CIA's Bangkok office - what you say here has the ring of authenticity, especially in terms of the catalyst for April 10th's actions. It's a shame you couldn't resist the gibe at Red apologists, as you came across as impartial up to that point; I'm also curious as to who 'our' governments are? I've noticed the BBC delights in describiing the Red-shirts as a 'loose coalition': whatever your views on the BBC, it is a fairly accurate description - some support Thaksin, some don't; some fire guns, some don't; some have degrees from Thai universities, some don't. This is probably what distinguishes them most from the Yellow shirts, who are more unified, less factionalised and therefore perhaps more credible to outside observers than the Reds. But lets hope that accommodation comes, and soon.

[mazeltov]

he following are two excerpts form an article in the AsiaTimesonlone.com

Sorry, "asiatimesonlone.com" does not exist or could not be found

you would think that even the intellectually challenged might pick out the single letter typo causing your problem

http://asiatimesonline.com/

and now?

[jdinasia]

Furthermore, I doubt burning down Central World represents an act of terrorism, irrespective of how bad their conduct has been.

That is simply foolish, I really hope you misspoke!

How about seizing an airport? Anyone arrested yet? Oh, forgot, they are the government now. At least the food and music was good...

I think direct comparisons such as this are far fetched and lack credibility and rational balance. Apparently an attempt at Red apologetics.

Having said that,.. I will grant you one thing; the airport seizure was clearly an act of terrorism and was completely unlawful. If the current government and in particular PM Abhisit are genuine on their promise of rectifying such behaviour in Thailand and to being "transparent" ("quote" from the Pm's TV speech on Friday evening) then they should include a full inquiry and pressing of charges and sentencing for those yellow leaders that were involved in the incident of the airport hijacking. That would be a bi-partisan and transparent application of justice and I fear that without such actions being exercised by the current government that they will lack credibility and be seen as being one sided and biased.

Such inaction will continue to fan the flames of resentment back towards the current Abhisit government whereas an inquiry and subsequent legal actions would give them massive credibility!

Hmmm I think some people have missed both their civics classes AND their history classes. The PAD leadership HAVE been charged and the court cases ARE proceeding.

The government doesn't get to say who is guilty and who is not. The government doesn't get to say how long a trial takes or what the verdict will be. Separation of powers means that the courts are independent of the government.

Your opinion of whether what happened at the airport was "legal" or not is immaterial. The question is what will be the opinion of the courts? It is the opinion of the Board of AOT that the fault for the airport closed rests on the head of the AOT official in charge at the time and they did not mitigate the blame when they said that. It certainly wasn't a hijacking and that is certain. In my opinion is was stupid and unplanned. I think the verdict on the airport will be that they criminally trespassed.

THIS thread however is about the stockpile of weapons found that the reds on the board are claiming were never used. Apparently they missed the news for days when the reporters were saying things like "firefights" and m-79's exploding. The same reds missed all the molotov cocktails flying and missed the video of the violence.

What scares me is that most of the GOOD weapons made it out of Rachprasong, still in the hands of Sae daeng's "ronin".

[dttk0009]

If the army could have moved in regardless of consequences, it would have been 1 -2 troops injured, protesters either dead or nearly so. In the 5 days cleanup of Rachaprasong 'only' 54 dead. Again a real crachdown would have fill mass-graves.

The fact that we lots of wounded troops and a few dead just symbolizes the restraint with which the army moved in.

<deleted>? only 54 dead and only hundreds injured, must have been are real clean cleanup and not a massacre - what a logic.

What next? A nomination for the Nobel peace prize?

So what do you think would have been the best course of action?

Sorry to interrupt, dttk0009, but it was a response on my reply (thanks for support anyway)

I didn't say 'clean' cleanup, only one full of restrain. If the army eally had have a free hand, we could have had 1000s dead or seriously wounded. Now 54 dead, 1800 wounded, but only 200 or so left in hospital. Whether you want to believe reports on armed resistance or not, torched buildings are in sight, many videos are available. If I had been a young trooper going in any who starts to provoke me, start throwing rocks, molotov cocktails, fires M79's, I would shoot! I maybe wrong, luckily those troopers has higher boiling points than I have.

Indeed, the question was actually aimed at mazeltov, but it's always interesting to hear different opinions. If you look at the soldiers, especially the ones present on April 10th, many of them were barely out of high school and conscripted. I could never imagine what that must feel like, still a teenager, to be targeted by those attacks. I'm sure it's absolutely possible that mistakes were made, errors of judgment, but when you see the evidence we have of that evening, the response was completely restrained. The mob was aggressive and the 'black shirts' were well hidden, picked their positions and targets and carried out their attack. Every single video of that night you see the military simply retreating and returning fire. The word returning is very important. Just my interpretation of that evening. I don't think they could have done much else.

Still interested in mazeltov's opinion.

[CHdiver]

This stuff was so hard to find it took them 3 days to get it out on the TV and the news? There have been hundreds of reporters around and around the site.

They've actually been reporting it since they first took over the Red main site 3 days ago:

Troops reclaim Ratchaprasong rally site

BANGKOK, 19 May 2010 (NNT) — CRES Spokesperson, Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd announced in a televised broadcast at 14.00 hrs that the troops have reclaimed Ratchaprosong Intersection, the main rally site of the anti-government demonstrators of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).

The officers found massive weapon stockpile at the site, especially a depot of M79 grenade launchers being used against state officers.

The radical demonstrators this morning have illegally intruded and set the fire at government agencies and civilians’ households.

A picture speaks a thousand words. We are in Thailand, hardly the land of the free when it comes to the media.

So they found the stuff on the 19th. If I remember the BBC was walking around the protest site by mid afternoon, and yet despite this incredibly huge find of weaponry, not one journalist managed to get a picture. I am trying to imagine what a "massive" find of guns looks like.

100, 200, 1000 weapons, and yet there were people using slingshots? If there were that many weapons in this massive find, it would appear that the master plan wasn't acted upon by the reds. One can only wonder why?

You did not watch my link in a earlyer Reply here. Or should I say you did not want to watch it? Enough weapons in the hand of the Reds to see there.

[erniebanks]

Come on, if the West really sided with this current govt don't you think they would have made a real effort to arrest Thaksin already? They are not doing anything because everyone outside the country knows it is all political on both sides, the courts are corrupt, the police are corrupt, and the army is corrupt. In fact, a huge number of the foreigners in country are married or in relationships with women who were from a "corrupt profession"....and they own property only in a way that isn't exactly legal either.

Figure out it's just about power and money, and stop talking like this has anything to do with what is legal or that any of them are not causing what happened. They are burning THEIR COUNTRY, not yours.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reds shot pretty well when they shot that officer leading the first charge weeks ago.

They killed him.

They shot over 220 army with rubber bullets that same day.

If you do not live in the war zone, you might find yourselves believing the nonsense appearing in government con tolled media here in Thailand. But I can assure you it is nonsense. Even today, the reds are throwing grenades and shooting at the Thai regime troops. If you do not believe--go down to Victory monument and welcomed to the war zone.

You know how you can tell when it is the Thai media and the Thai government, one in the same, are telling lies? Their lips are moving.

it is all just propaganda and the foreign governments have had it up to hear with the nonsense. That is why it is Thailand screams that Thaksan is a terrorist and the French allow him in and he is shopping in Paris.

The government has no credibility here with the international community. This is just a fact. it is not debatable even by the kiss ups here who either get paid to post or are just misinformed.

Most of the farangs who work and live here will leave. You hardcore thai nuts will say you do not care. But when the rats jump from a ship my Thai friends it is because the ship is sinking.

The Thai Titanic is flipping its nose into the air and will dive deep into the ocean of war soon. Celine can sing you the song and you Thais can cry and tell us how much you love the nation as you kill each other. All so you filthy rich Thais can have slaves. Moronoic.

[Insight]

Why is it not possible that the reds had all those guns? Not only was there a 6,000 gun shipment stolen from the south 2 days before their arrival last month, but on the day (april 14th I beleive) there was an artical stating that one of the red shirt leaders said "we have support umong the military, 6,000 troups that we like to call the "watermelon army" because they wear green but have red hearts"

There is no proof of course that the red shirts stole the guns from the military base, but it is quite a strange occurance that the excact number of wepons stolen from a military base is the same number of supposed military supporters the red shirts had.

If you look at Somtumtigers picture you will see among other things.

Some guns yes, and among other things a generator, a pink wheelycase, a gas bottle, a green plastic bowl, and in rather bad taste, some fire extinguishers. I wouldn't know if that is all of it, but when you are wheeling out ropes and cargo pants as evidence of a "HUGE WEAPONS CACHE", one would presume they would do a slightly better job of it. But then clowns like Suthep are used to simply speaking and having the world around them nod in agreement and hang on their every word.

Integrity and Trust. Hardly something associated with but a few Thai politicians. It is not my job to make the case for the reds being terrorists, it is his. So far, I am waiting to be convinced. It is entirely up to you if you feel the evidence is sufficient simply because the pooyai says it is so.

Can't seem to load the image so that it can be expanded. Please see Somtumtigers image early in the thread.

Didn't the red shirts have many weapons on public display on one of their stages confiscated from the army, shaped in a "wigwam" after the April 10th mess? Sure I remember reading reports about it.

It's well known the reds were armed - there's plenty of eyewitness accounts from civilians and journalists now. Photos of the weapons as they found them might help but to me that's gravy.

[Thai at Heart]

You did not watch my link in a earlyer Reply here. Or should I say you did not want to watch it? Enough weapons in the hand of the Reds to see there.

Please feel free to repost it.

I am not averse to looking at anything.

[erniebanks]

Why is it not possible that the reds had all those guns? Not only was there a 6,000 gun shipment stolen from the south 2 days before their arrival last month, but on the day (april 14th I beleive) there was an artical stating that one of the red shirt leaders said "we have support umong the military, 6,000 troups that we like to call the "watermelon army" because they wear green but have red hearts"

There is no proof of course that the red shirts stole the guns from the military base, but it is quite a strange occurance that the excact number of wepons stolen from a military base is the same number of supposed military supporters the red shirts had.

If you look at Somtumtigers picture you will see among other things.

Some guns yes, and among other things a generator, a pink wheelycase, a gas bottle, a green plastic bowl, and in rather bad taste, some fire extinguishers. I wouldn't know if that is all of it, but when you are wheeling out ropes and cargo pants as evidence of a "HUGE WEAPONS CACHE", one would presume they would do a slightly better job of it. But then clowns like Suthep are used to simply speaking and having the world around them nod in agreement and hang on their every word.

Integrity and Trust. Hardly something associated with but a few Thai politicians. It is not my job to make the case for the reds being terrorists, it is his. So far, I am waiting to be convinced. It is entirely up to you if you feel the evidence is sufficient simply because the pooyai says it is so.

Can't seem to load the image so that it can be expanded. Please see Somtumtigers image early in the thread.

Didn't the red shirts have many weapons on public display on one of their stages confiscated from the army, shaped in a "wigwam" after the April 10th mess? Sure I remember reading reports about it.

It's well known the reds were armed - there's plenty of eyewitness accounts from civilians and journalists now. Photos of the weapons as they found them might help but to me that's gravy.

Yes

They have weapons and they have army on their side who take off their uniforms to shoor for the reds.

Fact

[KMUTT]

'Puea Thai party to grill PM and four ministers; will nominate Chalerm as premier' http://bit.ly/cjvdis

Not only does the PTP support these red terrorists now they want to intall a person totally devoid of morals and principles as the next PM of Thailand.

They have no shame.

I have a dream, or actually a nightmare: K. Chalerm as interim PM and his two, able sons as helpers. Please don't step on any's toes.

Actually, "Dr. (PhD)" Police Captain Chalerm has 3 sons... all of whom have had run-ins with the uhmm... police.

Duangchalerm (2nd left), Wanchalerm (far right) and Artharn Yoobamrung (far left)

Edited May 22, 2010 by KMUTT

[SiamRose]

If there were that many weapons in this massive find, it would appear that the master plan wasn't acted upon by the reds. One can only wonder why?

No one can be sure, but perhaps it was fortunate that the "red commander" seh deng was killed before the fighting started.

[yoshiwara]

You did not watch my link in a earlyer Reply here. Or should I say you did not want to watch it? Enough weapons in the hand of the Reds to see there.

Please feel free to repost it.

I am not averse to looking at anything.

Its the understanding that's the problem.

[Tony121]

You are, naturally, assuming that the red shirts only targeted soldiers and not innocent bystanders, medics and reporters, right?

Wrong. I am saying that if the reds had used the "war weapons" the government claims they had then a lot more soldiers and a lot more civilians would be dead. Perhaps you have never seen what an M60 can do.

m-16 war weapon m79 war weapon ak47 war weapon, is there any footage of protesters men in black etc with these weapons ?

yes quite a few.

[dttk0009]

You are, naturally, assuming that the red shirts only targeted soldiers and not innocent bystanders, medics and reporters, right?

Wrong. I am saying that if the reds had used the "war weapons" the government claims they had then a lot more soldiers and a lot more civilians would be dead. Perhaps you have never seen what an M60 can do.

This is also only assuming that they would have been firing indiscriminately and as much as possible. They used the same strategy the military did. Restrained and carefully chosen targets. Naturally, for the sake of PR, they had to wait until the cameras were not looking or at least until they thought they weren't. Being gung ho with heavy weaponry would have quickly revealed to the tuned in world that they were just an armed and crazy militia. April 10th is probably the biggest testament to that. No one even knew where the attacks on the military came from, not even the majority of the red shirts there. Completely planned and hidden, the targets picked out and assassinated. Gruesome stuff.

That's my take on it.

[MamboJumbo]

It is very suspect that after a couple of days the government has a show for the press and other governments. Not having any press with them when they "found" this stuff (there were some willing I am sure) is just too much. The fact that a bunch of this stuff was all in the car park is also at best weird. I am not a red supporter but this smells bad. Why wasn't Pornthip w/her gt200 there when they let the people out of the temple?

I also have to think if ppl knew these things were there, they would have used them. Instead of just shooting firecrackers and bottle rockets. There were some using them yes, I understand that but when the sh*t was coming down they didn't hand stuff out or blow up the car bombs?

Yeah right, if I see a grenade, hey why not detonate it yeah...Wow a car bomb ok...I'll mix this with this and yeah put phosporos here and some oil there and oops...bye bye cruel worls...kabooooom....

What an idiot you say ........

[CHdiver]

You did not watch my link in a earlyer Reply here. Or should I say you did not want to watch it? Enough weapons in the hand of the Reds to see there.

Please feel free to repost it.

I am not averse to looking at anything.

Page 9 Post 243 but here is the link anyway Red Shirt Weapon and Violence

[mrsouza]

Ass! Airport seizure didnt involve any M-79's or RPG's! Nobody got hurt. Is that an act of terroism?

Well, once you sobered up you might want to read the definition of a terrorist act. Like your tag line and location, revealing.

Terrorist: a person who uses or favours violent and intimidating methods of coercing a government or community.

Concise Oxford Dictionary, 8th ed. 1990

Exactly! Merriam Webster: Violent or destructive acts (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands <insurrection and revolutionary terror>.

Seizing an airport falls under a very destructive act in my book. Just as violent acts in order to intimidate do.

[whitfield]

It has to be said that Abhisit has played a blinder. Starting the dispute as an alleged puppet of those shadowy figures behind the scenes he showed initially great patience. But when RPGs were fired at a crowd of Bangkokians demonstrating against the Reds and demanding to be allowed to work he authorised an attempt to break up the demo.

THis resulted in 23 deaths and so negotiations were called and on National TV he offered the Reds what they wanted, an early election. THis must have horrified the puppeteers, but Abhisit made a judgment that it would be rejected. It was and from then on he had the moral high ground. Had he listened to the Hard Liners his cause would have been lost.

By ending the demo (insurrection) with (comparatively) little loss of life he has at one time thwarted the Red (Thaksin) ambitions and increased his own standing immeasurably not only amongst ordinary Thais but against those who thought that he was their puppet. His position is now unassailable.

A truly brilliant display of diplomacy that should ensure he wins an outright majority when the election comes around.

All in all the loser was Thaksin and the winner is Thailand.

[Thai at Heart]

You did not watch my link in a earlyer Reply here. Or should I say you did not want to watch it? Enough weapons in the hand of the Reds to see there.

Please feel free to repost it.

I am not averse to looking at anything.

Its the understanding that's the problem.

Hey, I only ask politely.

Bearing in mind I come from a part of the world where a government invented weapons of Mass destruction as a reason for sending young men half way around the world to die.

I don't see anything wrong with holding a statement such as "Massive Weapons Cache" to some hard proof. It either existed or it didn't. I am no weapons expert, but I think I can imagine what a massive arms cache would look like, and as yet, other than public spoken pronouncements from the government and army, there is no official picture, or catalogue. Statements like this need more than verbal proof, and all governments need to be held accountable for their statements and actions.

I have never said the reds were peaceful or unarmed. I have never said that the army was unjustified in their actions. There were a portion of the protesters armed with lethal weapons. However, a statement such as "Massive Arms Cache" is being used to justify the actions of the army and colours a lot of perception about what the reds were potentially planning. I don't trust the words that come out of most politicians mouths of any political persuasion unless they have no political gain for making the statement.

I am neither red, nor yellow, just trying to work out what, where, why and how this country runs.

[jdinasia]

You are, naturally, assuming that the red shirts only targeted soldiers and not innocent bystanders, medics and reporters, right?

Wrong. I am saying that if the reds had used the "war weapons" the government claims they had then a lot more soldiers and a lot more civilians would be dead. Perhaps you have never seen what an M60 can do.

Hard to hide where m60 fire is coming from! The goal of the reds was to provoke violent action from the government while being able to present a semi-credible face to the world. Using m79 grenades with a parabollic flight path means poor accuracy but the shooters aren't seen. If you want them to be accurate you need to use them as direct-fire (point and shoot) but then you are visible to the cameras. Firing m16's means that the people you kill you can blame on the government. Had Abhisit gotten suckered into actually invading Rachprasong before forcing the leaders to surrender or scurry away like rats it would have looked like April 10th again. Since he didn't step in that trap they used trap number 2 --- arson.

[KMUTT]

Not only does the PTP support these red terrorists now they want to install a person totally devoid of morals and principles as the next PM of Thailand.

They have no shame.

They have no chance. The coalition is firmly behind the PM. Puea Thai is useless.

Some coalition members were elected by red supporters, it is very unlikely they will find themselves in that position ever again.

Guess we'll have to wait and find out at the elections in late 2011.

[rubl]

he following are two excerpts form an article in the AsiaTimesonlone.com

Sorry, "asiatimesonlone.com" does not exist or could not be found

you would think that even the intellectually challenged might pick out the single letter typo causing your problem

http://asiatimesonline.com/

and now?

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LE13Ae01.html

[SiamRose]

m-16 war weapon m79 war weapon ak47 war weapon, is there any footage of protesters men in black etc with these weapons ? yes quite a few.

Yes of course, but that's not the point. The question you are trying very hard not to understand is that, according to the government, the reds had car bombs but they did not use them. Why? According to the government, the reds had stocks of high explosive, but they didn't use them. Why? According to the government the reds had M60 machine guns (vastly more powerful than M16 or AK 47) but didn't use them. Why?

[dttk0009]

m-16 war weapon m79 war weapon ak47 war weapon, is there any footage of protesters men in black etc with these weapons ? yes quite a few.

Yes of course, but that's not the point. The question you are trying very hard not to understand is that, according to the government, the reds had car bombs but they did not use them. Why? According to the government, the reds had stocks of high explosive, but they didn't use them. Why? According to the government the reds had M60 machine guns (vastly more powerful than M16 or AK 47) but didn't use them. Why?

I thought they only found the M60 bullets.

[KMUTT]

If there were that many weapons in this massive find, it would appear that the master plan wasn't acted upon by the reds. One can only wonder why?

They've shown tremendous ineptitude the whole time. No real reason to wonder why they would stray from that course.

[animatic]

This stuff was so hard to find it took them 3 days to get it out on the TV and the news? There have been hundreds of reporters around and around the site.

They've actually been reporting it since they first took over the Red main site 3 days ago:

Troops reclaim Ratchaprasong rally site

BANGKOK, 19 May 2010 (NNT) — CRES Spokesperson, Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd announced in a televised broadcast at 14.00 hrs that the troops have reclaimed Ratchaprosong Intersection, the main rally site of the anti-government demonstrators of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).

The officers found massive weapon stockpile at the site, especially a depot of M79 grenade launchers being used against state officers.

The radical demonstrators this morning have illegally intruded and set the fire at government agencies and civilians' households.

A picture speaks a thousand words. We are in Thailand, hardly the land of the free when it comes to the media.

So they found the stuff on the 19th. If I remember the BBC was walking around the protest site by mid afternoon, and yet despite this incredibly huge find of weaponry, not one journalist managed to get a picture. I am trying to imagine what a "massive" find of guns looks like.

100, 200, 1000 weapons, and yet there were people using slingshots? If there were that many weapons in this massive find, it would appear that the master plan wasn't acted upon by the reds. One can only wonder why?

A point.

I wouldn't have had one central arsenal,

but salted it away at many different corners.

It's not like the place was one face to the world, it has

many, many different angles to defend from attack,

or attack from...

Slingshots are an easy thing to use, are dangerous and threatening,

and more or less fit in the PR tale they wanted told,

poor farmers with slingshots vs M16 army guys... a good propaganda weapon.