Local News, page-1412

Thailand is a very complex place. The 'mafia', the royal family, military, political class, oligarchs, etc are all intertwined. It is is a dictatorship where the royal family shuffles the deck chairs every few years to give a select few the chance to feast in order to maintain power. Quite a clever strategy from the top, giving the illusion that a democracy exists or is at least possible.

I personally think this is helpful. It shows that Prayut is being attacked from within and validates the whispers that his own coalition was looking to overthrow him. The weaker Prayut is, the better for us as we will have him by the proverbial balls. Thamanat was said to be the 'main artery' of the Prayut government, or at least he calls himself such. An arbitration award would be nothing short of catastrophic for Prayut at the moment as it would only galvanise political opponents like Thamanat, whilst a settlement and reopening of the mine offers him the chance to present a solution with much better optics (especially when Thailand's economy is on its knees). In my opinion, he will be left with no other option then to roll the dice and settle as an arbitration award would be nothing short of disastrous at this juncture.