PRESS DIGEST - Thai newspapers - July 8

BANGKOK, July 8 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Thai newspapers on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

TOP STORIES

- Supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawtra are threatening to defy City Hall's warning against using Sanam Luang to celebrate his birthday (BANGKOK POST)

- A seven-year-old boy who caught the type A (H1N1) influenza virus has become the country's first flu patient with potentially life-threatening meningitis (THE NATION)

- Supachai Panitchpakdi has been reappointed secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development for another four years (BANGKOK POST)

- The National Innovation Agency (NIA) is to propose a plan to the Finance Ministry that would introduce an environmental tax on oil-based plastics by 2010 in an attempt to encourage consumers to use more biodegradable plastics (THE NATION)

- Legal experts and Democrat MPs are rushing to defend embattled Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, saying he does not need to resign even though he faces charges of committing an act of terrorism (BANGKOK POST)

BUSINESS

- Rice exporters are struggling hard to fill their orders, as supply appears low and much of the grain is in government hands, local traders said (BANGKOK POST)

- Private cellular operators have said it is impossible to finish fine-tuning their networks and jointly establish a central clearing house within the national telecom regulator's deadline for promoting mobile phone number portability (THE NATION)

- Thaicom PCL THCOM.BK, the country's sole satellite service provider, plans to diversify into digital media and broadcasting services with a possible budget of up to 10 billion baht (BANGKOK POST)

- Thailand's forecast e-commerce market growth rate of 40 percent this year seems a reasonable one, now that more companies are resorting to the Internet to boost business (THE NATION)

- Badly hit by the global recession, Thailand's automotive sector is expected to need at least two years for a partial recovery and up to a decade for its annual capacity of 1.8 million units to be fully utilised (BANGKOK POST)

- IRPC IRPC.BK, a petrochemical subsidiary of PTT (PTT.BK), has hired Baker and McKenzie to study its business structure to pave the way for a strategic partner (THE NATION) ** Looking for more information from local sources? Factiva.com has eight Thai sources including the Bangkok Post and The Nation.