PRESS DIGEST - Thai newspapers on May 22

BANGKOK, May 22 (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 United Nations has accepted Thailand's offer to use Don Mueang airport as a staging centre for global relief to cyclone-hit Myanmar, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said (THE NATION)

- The Election Commission has rejected Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's timeframe for a proposed July referendum on rewriting the constitution, saying there is currently no law governing referendum procedures (BANGKOK POST)

- Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra urged PM's Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair to reflect on his controversial remarks on the monarchy and act accordingly (THE NATION)

- A former British police officer has been arrested in Bangkok as part of an international crackdown on a sex trafficking ring in London last month that resulted in nine Thais being arrested (BANGKOK POST)

BUSINESS

- The Stock Exchange of Thailand announced that it would scrap its controversial regulations that prohibit investors from net settlement, or intra-day trading, and margin loans for trading particular stocks (THE NATION)

- The Bank of Thailand left interest rates unchanged in a widely-expected move, but adopted a more hawkish tone due to growing inflation concerns (BANGKOK POST)

- Market analysts are predicting a rosy second half for listed companies as long as there is no political upheaval arising from attempts to change the constitution (THE NATION)

- Sugar millers and producers are calling on the government to reallocate part of the export quota to the domestic market to prevent a local sugar surplus (BANGKOK POST)

- EFG International (EFGN.S), a Swiss-based financial group, has opened its investment advisory office in Thailand (BANGKOK POST)

- Bangkok Dusit Medical Services BGH.BK plans to pursue what it sees as a great opportunity to enlarge its medical business in the Middle East following the opening later this year of its first local hospital in Abu Dhabi (THE NATION) ** Looking for more information from local sources? Factiva.com has eight Thai sources including the Bangkok Post and The Nation.