Preference Shareholders - The mining contractor (Lotus Hall) is...

Preference Shareholders -

The mining contractor (Lotus Hall) is a Thai woman running a company who I think was married to a foreigner who was the previous operator (from vague memory).

Thailand requires companies (or mines) to be 51% Thai owned. 20 or so years ago, KCN's lawyers suggested that they set up a preference shareholder structure. The above Lotus Hall group own 51% of Akara (type B preference shares) - which receive dividends every year more similar to a loan than a share of the profits, and KCN own 49% (type A regular shares), which I think makes 100% of the profits attributable to them - so similar to 100% ownership, with some expenses due to the partner every year. So it's a tricky way of doing it, but is common in Thailand.

In Thailand the courts do what they're told, so if the government tells them that the holding structure should be seen as legitimate, then they rule that way 'as it's common practice, and 51% of the shares are Thai owned', and if the government tell them to rule against KCN, then they rule it illegitimate, saying 'it's trickery, with the 51% not being regular shares'.

As per the news article, Prayuth is publicly calling the holding structure legitimate, so the courts will see it that way too. He's only saying that because of TAFTA. TAFTA has overridden Thailand's usual rules (now that the government has realised they can't beat it, or bankrupt the company so far). If not for TAFTA, they'd call it illegitimate and likely expropriate it, using 'junta law'.