PRESS DIGEST - Thai newspapers - July 2

BANGKOK, July 2 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Thai newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

TOP STORIES

- The "red shirts" have set a target of gathering a million signatures within a month to petition the king to pardon former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (THE NATION)

- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has urged Thailand to withdraw its 30 troops stationed around Preah Vihear Temple, to defuse the standoff at the border (THE NATION)

- For the first time in its five-decade history, the whole board of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand has been accused of committing lese-majeste, a crime with a maximum jail sentence of 15 years (THE NATION)

- Thailand reported two more deaths caused by the H1N1 influenza, bringing the number of fatalities to five (THE NATION)

- The Metropolitan Electricity Authority labour union is threatening to cut off power supplies to key state agencies unless they pay their electricity bills this week (BANGKOK POST)

BUSINESS

- The Commerce Ministry has maintained this year's inflation target of zero to 0.5 percent, despite a 4 percent fall year on year in June, the sharpest monthly fall since the 1997 financial crisis (THE NATION)

- The Finance Ministry has rejected a loan offer from the Japan International Cooperation Agency to finance the Blue Line mass transit routes in favour of domestic borrowing (BANGKOK POST)

- The government aims to clear the ethanol surplus with a controversial policy to phase out regular petrol from the market, a senior Energy Ministry official said (BANGKOK POST)

- New condominiums launched in the first quarter plummeted by 36 percent from a year earlier du to the world financial crisis and domestic political turmoil, property brokerage Century 21 Thailand said (BANGKOK POST)

- Listed furniture manufacturer Modernform Group has cut its sales target by 15 percent to 2.6 billion baht ($76 million) in the face of recession (BANGKOK POST)

- Thai Airways THAI.BK and its sometimes rebellious offspring carrier Nok Airlines have agreed to bury the hatchet and vowed to work together to ride out the industry downturn (BANGKOK POST) ($1=34.02 Baht)

** Looking for more information from local sources? Factiva.com has eight Thai sources including the Bangkok Post and The Nation. ((Bangkok Newsroom 662-648 9729, e-mail: bangkok.newsroom@reuters.com)