PRESS DIGEST - Thai newspapers - March 18

BANGKOK, March 18 (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 decision by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship to sever ties with army specialist Khattiya Sawasdipol and Surachai Danwattananusorn highlights disunity in the pro-Thaksin Shinawatra camp (BANGKOK POST)

- With the red shirts apparently splintered and in disarray, is a truce easier to achieve? The official break-up between two red shirted factions coincided with a growing chorus of calls for peace (THE NATION)

- Red shirt protesters declared that they are now waging a class war by peaceful means against the elite, changing tactics to win sympathy from the capital's urban middle class (THE NATION)

- The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship has settled for a protracted protest, unveiling a plan to mobilise pickup trucks to descend on Bangkok's streets on Saturday (BANGKOK POST)

- The government is ready for a general debate in parliament but the session should take place after all sides have had time to cool off, and not in the current heated atmosphere stoked by the red shirts, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said (THE NATION)

- Foreign net buying of 31 billion baht since Feb. 23 has driven the Stock Exchange of Thailand Index to a 20-month peak and pushed the baht to a 21-month high against the U.S. dollar (THE NATION)

BUSINESS

- Suspended projects in the Map Ta Phut industrial estate should be able to begin operations by the end of this year, says Sorayud Petchtrakul, an adviser to the Industry Minister (BANGKOK POST)

- Asia Green Energy Pcl AGEm.BK, a listed coal importer and distributor, expects its slaes volume to rise by 20 percent to 1.2 million tonnes this year in line with Thailand's rising coal imports (BANGKOK POST)

- The European hotel chain Kempinski will open its first Thai property, the Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok, in June (BANGKOK POST)

- Building owners and operators should be ready to meet security threats such as terrorism, says Suphin Mechuchep, managing director of the property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (Thailand) Ltd (BANGKOK POST)

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