the brains inside the heads that currently wear ‘Ku Chart’ headbands will eventually realize that the total collapse of tourism, the suspension of almost all foreign trade and the severing of diplomatic relations with most of the world is not exactly the best way to save the nation

Yes, but saving their asses is what they are about and the nation be damned. The gangsters at the top of the heap are independent of the Thai economy, or feel that they can weather its destruction and profit another day after they have retrenched in complete control.

They never thought twice about shutting down the airports to launch their putsch.

The people hurt by the loss of trade and tourist dollars are not themselves, but ordinary Thais who scramble daily and work hard for their meager earnings. The "elite" can afford, they feel, to starve the entire nation into submission.

This whole unbelievable episode is a demonstration of the utter contempt the "elite" have for the Thai people and for all things Thai. All they understand is money and control, and they are prepared to fly the plane into the ground if that's what it takes to teach the passengers that they are utterly expendable in the view of the "elite", equipped with their golden parachutes.

The connection between the Thai "elite" and the Thai land and people is like the connection between an absentee slumlord and his tenants, one who'll gleefully torch his own property and then rebuild via insurance fraud in order to rid himself, permanently, of tenants unwilling to knuckle their brows to their "lords and masters".