PRESS DIGEST - Thai newspapers - Aug 11

BANGKOK Aug 11 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Thai newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

GENERAL NEWS

- Senators voted last night to pass a law empowering the Finance Ministry to borrow 400 billion baht after challenging its benefit and urgency (THE NATION)

- Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva decide to assign national police chief General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, who returned from a mission in China earlier than expected, to work in the deep South on an unidentified mission (THE NATION)

- Bangkok Airways aims to write off the ATR 72-500 turboprop damaged in last Tuesday's plane crash at Samui Airport (BANGKOK POST)

- Public donations have allowed City Hall to buy a partially blind 30-year-old elephant found begging for food on Bangkok's streets (BANGKOK POST)

BUSINESS

- The Federation of Thai Industries urged the government to propose the establishment of a fund for small and medium-sized companies at the 41st ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting this week (THE NATION)

- Tanayong Plc TYON.BK will invest 2.3 billion baht to build five boutique hotels, part of its strategy to build up assets with long-term revenue potential (BANGKOK POST)

- The government's recent cancellation of planned paddy rice bidding has damaged export opportunities for parboiled rice, which is produced from unhusked rice (THE NATION)

- Subsidising electricity and fuel prices could cost taxpayers more than 37.5 billion baht a year, Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul says (BANGKOK POST) ** Looking for more information from local sources? Factiva.com has eight Thai sources including Bangkok Post and the Nation. (Bangkok Newsroom +66 2648 9721, e-mail: bangkok.newsroom@reuters.com)