On August 30th, Mr Banthoon announced that it would let go of its loss-making finance company, Phatra Thanakit.

ECONOMIST: Thailand��s banks

Mr Banthoon admitted that Phatra Thanakit has continued to bleed his bank, whose shares fell by 5% after the announcement.

ECONOMIST: Thailand��s banks

"Everything seems to be on track, regardless of who the prime minister is, " says Supavud Saicheua of Merrill Lynch Phatra Securities in Bangkok.

CNN: Taking Over

The government seized 56 other finance companies in 1997 but left Phatra Thanakit alone, and a year later cajoled Thai Farmers into buying out its minority shareholders.

ECONOMIST: Thailand��s banks

General Surayud may want peaceful compromise but this, Supavud Saicheua, an analyst at Phatra Securities, noted this week, is like asking two boxers who dislike and mistrust each other to fight a championship bout without hurting each other, and then to agree to call it a draw.

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