1.   Vietnam approved the opening of a Thai consulate-general in Ho Chi Minh City and authorized a Thai bank to set up a branch office in Vietnam.

2.   Another measure to bolster the finance industry is an increase in the foreign ownership limit of any Thai bank or finance company.

3.   Because their money is unrecoverable, Thai banks have stopped lending and the world has stopped lending to Thai banks.

4.   ABN Amro of the Netherlands has taken a majority stake in another Thai bank.

5.   All this, of course, is good news for Thai banks.

6.   Citibank has signed a memorandum of understanding on the purchase of a major Thai bank, First Bangkok City Bank.

7.   For Thai banks that means more money tied up without generating income or paying domestic depositors rates higher than those at which the banks can borrow abroad.

8.   He said he focused on Thai bank stocks, purchasing shares of Bangkok Bank Pcl, Siam Commercial Bank Pcl and Thai Farmers Bank Pcl.

9.   More than half of Thai bank loans are nonperforming, Ms. Thanomsri said, making banks reluctant or unable to extend new loans to feed the economy.

10.   On the other hand, Thai banks and finance companies will be able to use the zero-coupon bonds as part of their capital reserves.