PRESS DIGEST - Thai newspapers - April 16

BANGKOK, April 16 (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

- Executives of the coalition parties at risk of dissolution can escape a five-year political ban if the Constitution Court decides to show them mercy, former charter drafters say (BANGKOK POST)

- Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama offered his support for China's position on Tibet and its hosting of the Olympic Games, state media said (THE NATION)

- The former chairman of the junta-sponsored constitution drafting committee, Prasong Soonsiri, warned that the Samak Sundaravej government was risking bloodshed and its political demise if it went ahead with amendment of the charter (THE NATION)

- Driven by fear, the driver of the cold storage delivery truck in which 54 illegal Burmese job seekers suffocated last week surrendered to police (BANGKOK POST)

BUSINESS

- The Commerce Ministry's concern over inflation is escalating after a new surge in Dubai oil prices to $120 per barrel (BANGKOK POST)

- Retailers are forecasting a slowdown in growth to no more than 4 per cent in the first quarter. Continuous price rises for fuel and consumer products and political instability were still affecting the country's economy, Thai Retailers' Association president Thanapon Tangkananan said (THE NATION)

- The Bank of Thailand insists that household debt remains at a manageable level, despite it having continued to rise as a result of low interest rates in recent years (BANGKOK POST)

- The Information and Communications Technology Ministry is preparing to streamline the lengthy selection process for telecom and broadcasting regulators from two years to just three months (BANGKOK POST)

- To make further inroads into emerging markets, the Tourism Authority of Thailand is preparing to ask for 96 million baht ($3.05 million) in the next fiscal budget to establish more overseas offices, notably in India and China (BANGKOK POST)

- SCB Asset Management, the country's largest asset manager, hopes to expand its investor base by tapping into the more than 10 million deposit accounts at parent Siam Commercial Bank SCB.BK (BANGKOK POST)

** Looking for more information from local sources? Factiva.com has eight Thai sources including the Bangkok Post and The Nation. ($1=31.53 Baht)