The senators said they were optimistic the government would get the legislation passed by the end of first quarter 1999 as targeted, but not without some dilution of their provisions.

About 30 senators met finance minister Tarrin Nimmanahaeminda at a meeting last week and conveyed their concerns to him.

The bills are part of a package of 11 economic reform bills proposed by the government to parliament this year to help Thailand out of its worst economic crisis in over 50 years.

Some of the bills have received in Principle approval from the lower house of parliament but must be agreed by the upper house as well to become law.

The reforms were inspired by the International Monetary Fund, which arranged a $17.2-billion rescue package for Thailand in August 1997 to help lift the country outof crisis.

The bills' opponents, including unelected senators, opposition members and nationalistic lobby groups, say that amendments to current legislation would let foreigners take control of Thai business interests and water down Thai business rights.

"We don't want to see debtors come under severe pressure and completely lose their leverage during the downturn in the economy," said a senator who runs a major industrial business.

"We agree on the principles of the bills. Debtors should not avoid paying their debt and I think most of them are ready to take a haircut. But we have to look at timing and fairness."

"This is not nationalism because it applies to Thai creditors too. Although I must admit that during this tough time, it would be easier for foreigners to buy cheap assets because the Thais have no money," he said.

Niramol Suriyasat, chairwoman of Toshiba (Thailand) and a senator, told Reuters that among issues senators were worried about were the levels of personal guarantee and debt thatwould make individuals liable to prosecution.

For example, the bills propose that any individual with unpaid debt levels of 500,000 baht ($13,889) and corporates with one million baht unpaid debt can be prosecuted under the new laws.

The senators had asked that the individual debt level be raised to one or two million baht and that of corporates to five million baht or higher before action could be taken, she said.

The daily Bangkok Post reported on Monday that the government was prepared to change some aspects of the bills in order to come to an agreement with its opponents.

"The government will have to listen to its critics and agree to some changes, provided they do not upset the main goal of the economic measures," it quoted Abhisit Vejjajiva, minister at the Thai prime minister's office, as saying.

On the personal guarantee issue, another senator, who asked not to be identified, said the issue was very important as lending practices in Thailand focused primarily on personal guarantees ratherthan on the cash flow of a company.

The practice was applied even to major corporates and not limited to partnership companies.

Most corporate executives agree to the practice because the foreclosure process under the lax existing laws normally takes years to complete and does not reach their personal liability.

Some senators had asked the government to find a compromise version on personal guarantee, such as allowing debtors to exit personal guarantee agreements once their debt was restructured, one senator who declined to be identified told Reuters.

"A lot of good corporates became debt-ridden because of the economic crisis and government policy, not because of bad business practice," he said. "Is it fair that business operators should lose everything because of the crisis?"