PRESS DIGEST - Thai newspapers April 23

BANGKOK, April 23 (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

- Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej lashed out at the World Bank and United Nations for criticising biofuel-producing nations for soaring food prices (BANGKOK POST)

- A former student activist has proclaimed his innocence after being charged with lese majeste for refusing to rise when the royal anthem was played in a cinema (BANGKOK POST)

- The reinstatement of Duang Yubamrung in the army has drawn criticism from a key opposition Democrat figure and a core leader of the anti-Thaksin group (BANGKOK POST)

- The Finance Ministry will review the use of millions of rai of land owned by the Treasury Department to bring land into production as part of a strategy to deal with the food crisis (THE NATION)

- The Excise Department is losing 1.5 billion baht a month for every 1 baht cut in diesel excise tax, a source from a working committee says (THE NATION)

- The Bank of Thailand drastically revised upward its headline and core inflation projections, while slightly lifting its economic-growth estimate for the year (THE NATION)

BUSINESS