PRESS DIGEST - Thai newspapers Nov 6

BANGKOK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Thai newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

TOP STORIES

- Just as many had feared, the stormy relationship between Thailand and Cambodia was pushed to the edge on Thursday when Bangkok responded to fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's appointment as the neighbouring country's economic adviser by recalling its ambassador from Phnom Penh (THE NATION)

- Thai businessmen with a presence in Cambodia are confident the Thai-Cambodian conflict will not have an adverse effect on their businesses (THE NATION)

- The Thai government is striking where it believes Cambodia will feel it most by cancelling talks on the disputed maritime boundary in the Gulf of Thailand, a government source says (BANGKOK POST)

- Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has accepted an offer by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to act as his adviser, and criticised the Thai government's recall of its ambassador to Phnom Penh as overreacting (BANGKOK POST)

BUSINESS

- Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has pledged to promote Thai contractors and consultants overseas, especially in six targeted countries: Libya, India, Bahrain, Qatar, Vietnam and Brunei (BANGKOK POST)

- A further delay in the long-overdue start of 3G services has caught the telecom industry by surprise (BANGKOK POST)

- The launch of third-generation mobile services could boost economic growth by as much as 2.3 percentage points and create up to 80,000 new jobs, according to Sethaporn Cusripituck, a member of the National Telecommunications Commission (BANGKOK POST)

- The national telecom watchdog was urged to include a requirement in the licence-auction guidelines to use locally made equipment in part of the third-generation network roll-out. Former deputy transport minister Pinij Charusombat said otherwise only foreign suppliers would benefit fully from the network investment (THE NATION)

- The free-trade agreement that will take effect among ASEAN members next year could bankrupt local breweries, as unfair taxation will cost them their competitive edge against imported beers, said Sushabodi Sattabusya, senior vice president of Singha Corp (THE NATION)

- Australia has set up a commission to investigate the country's third-worst oil spill, after up to 30,000 barrels leaked into the Timor Sea from a well operated by PTT Exploration and Production PCL PTTE.BK (BANGKOK POST)

- Kim Eng Securities KEST.BK will expand its analyst team and increase its IT investments to help support future growth of its retail investor base (BANGKOK POST)

- Asia Plus Securities ASP.BK reported a third-quarter net profit of 172.89 million baht, a sharp turnaround from a loss of 33.15 million in the same period last year (BANGKOK POST)

- Delta Electronics (Thailand) DELT.BK expects revenue to miss its target of $1 billion this year despite improving sales in the third quarter and the high growth of its Indian business (BANGKOK POST) ($1=33.39 Baht) (Bangkok Newsroom +66 2648 9721, e-mail: bangkok.newsroom@reuters.com)