One day after threatening legal action against a planned protest by rubber farmers, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha used his weekly TV programme to offer them an olive branch.
Gen Prayut on Friday called for patience from farmers as he outlined steps his government was taking in an attempt to push up low rubber prices.
"Please don't pose conflicts. We will do our best to address the issues in the rubber sector," the prime minister said in his Returning Happiness to Thai People broadcast.
The tone represented a reversal from Thursday when he angrily warned farmers of possible legal consequences if their protest went ahead.
Rubber growers have said they would rally on Tuesday the office of the Rubber Authority of Thailand in Trang to demand government intervention to shore up plunging prices. They said they would be joined by palm farmers.
The price of latex rose 50 satang to 29 baht per kilogramme on Friday, while smoked rubber sheet remained unchanged at 32.50 baht, according to the Rubber Authority of Thailand.
Prices have been declining steadily for the past two years, with occasional rallies. Rubber sheet was trading around 60 baht per kilogramme, which farmers consider their break-even point, in early 2014.
Gen Prayut reiterated that his administration was not ignoring the farmers' plight but said solutions would take time.
"Rubber can be used in road construction and sports stadium construction. We have all these plans laid out, but they have to be studied first," he said.
Pairach Jeoychum, vice-chairman of the Rubber Farmers Cooperatives of Thailand, said on Friday that the group would demand concrete measures o shore up prices and more government attention to the plight of growers at a meeting in Trang.
"The government must promote more domestic demand for rubber," he said, adding that traders had been favoured in government assistance more than farmers.
However, farmers do not appear to have a united front ahead of Tuesday's gathering.
Kittisak Viroj, chairman of the Rubber and Oil Palm Farmers Association in Surat Thani, said on Thursday that his group would go to Trang next week to try to disrupt the protest.
He said organisers of the rally wanted to press the government to sell rubber now in stock to China, which would further depress prices.
But Pairote Ruekdee, a farmers' leader in Ban Song in Wieng Sa district in Surat Thani, said on Thursday that his faction would pile more pressure on the government to restore sagging prices as it had failed to solve the problem so far.