BANGKOK, April 11 (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

- Public prosecutors decided to drop charges of lese majeste against deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, saying they lacked solid evidence to prove malicious intent against revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej (THE NATION)

- Police have doubled their patrols in Bangkok in the lead-up to this weekend's Thai New Year celebrations, the Songkran Festival, and are looking for the motive behind a low-power bomb blast in Bangkok (BANGKOK POST)

- The army defended a group of government-backed Village Defence Volunteers over the death of four Muslim students, accusing the latter of provoking a fatal shoot-out (THE NATION)

BUSINESS

- The Bank of Thailand has called for a larger fiscal deficit in order to fire up the limping economy and vent upward pressure on the baht, but Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn will not go along with the proposal, a source said (THE NATION)

- A weakening economy and oil price volatility will mean the Monetary Policy Committee faces its greatest challenge yet when it meets to review interest rate on Wednesday (BANGKOK POST)

- The cabinet approved the revised amendments to the Foreign Business Act, but it remained uncertain whether the bill will pass the National Legislative Assembly (THE NATION)

- Bidding by companies wishing to become independent power producers may be delayed from this month because the National Energy Policy Council has yet to approve a ratio for sharing the provision of additional electricity between the Electricity Generating of Thailand and private producers (THE NATION)

- Asian tourists are turning away from Thailand, statistics show, prompting concern that holidaymakers are avoiding the Kingdom because of continuing political woes (BANGKOK POST)

- Airports of Thailand has found irregularities in the calling of tenders and supply of baggage trolleys at new Suvarnabhumi international airport (BANGKOK POST)

- Daily bond trading jumped 161 percent in the first quarter from the same period last year thanks to a flood of new issues by the Bank of Thailand as part of its efforts to intervene in the currency markets (BANGKOK POST)

- Several large banks are expected to record almost 20 billion baht ($572 million) in net profits for the first quarter, a substantial reversal from losses of 10.61 billion baht in the fourth quarter last year, thanks to lower provisions (BUSINESS)

- Siam City Bank plans to attract more retail customers and increase fee income to help push its 2007 net profit above last year's 4.26 billion baht (BANGKOK sPOST) ($1=34.95 Baht)

** Looking for more information from local sources? Factiva.com has eight Thai sources including the Bangkok Post and Business Day.

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