* Thailand slashes interest rates more than expected
* Euro zone, Britain, Sweden expected to follow
* Survey slows Euro services sector in deep recession
* Paulson mulls asking Congress for rest of bailout cash-WSJ
* S.Korea moves to help banks
By Kitiphong Thaichareon and Angus MacSwan
BANGKOK/LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Thailand led a global charge to cut interest rates on Wednesday, with countries from Europe to New Zealand expected to follow in the next few days to fight an unrelenting financial crisis.
South Korea took steps to help local banks through a cash crunch, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was reportedly debating if he should ask lawmakers in Washington for the second half of a $700 billion bank rescue package.
Russian state bank VEB asked the Moscow government for a $34 billion cash injection in the latest sign that the major emerging market was also feeling the heat of a crisis that has forced the United States, Japan and Europe into recession.
Pressure for big rate cuts in Europe and Britain grew with a survey that showed the euro zone's services economy fell deeper into recession in November than first thought.
The Bank of Thailand slashed its main interest rate for the first time in 16 months to help an economy hit both by the global downturn and political unrest, cutting its main interest rate by a bigger-than-expected 100 basis points to 2.75 percent.
Australia slashed rates on Tuesday to boost its economy and Britain, the euro zone, Sweden and New Zealand all make rate decisions on Thursday.
The Markit Eurozone Purchasing Managers Index for services companies, which covers banks to bars in the euro zone, plunged to 42.5 in November from October's 45.8 level, the lowest in the survey's 10-year history.
It also showed inflationary pressures eased in the zone's services sector, making it easier for the European Central Bank to cut rates.
In Seoul, the Bank of Korea held an emergency meeting to consider buying more bonds off banks and ease rules on the amount of cash they have to keep in reserve.
South Korea's banks have been hard hit by the global crunch and concerns about the country's exposure to the crisis have forced the won down 35 percent against the dollar this year.
CHINA COOLS ON HELPING OUT
The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson might approach Congress next week to ask for the second half of a $700 billion bank rescue package.
Paulson was on his way to Beijing to talk with Chinese officials. But he may not receive big promises of further investment, especially from China's sovereign wealth fund, which expressed a lack of confidence in the U.S. regulatory situation.
Beijing is protecting its own rapidly slowing economy from a worldwide manufacturing and consumer spending slump.
Investors have looked to China for leadership because of its high growth rate and long-term economic potential.
However, the chairman of China Investment Corp. said the sovereign wealth fund was "not brave enough" to invest in foreign financial firms and lacks confidence in the shifting U.S. financial regulatory terrain.
"It's changing every week. How can I be confident?," CIC chairman Lou Jiwei said in Hong Kong.
In the United States, automakers prepared to plead the case to Congress that they had a viable future.
Ford Motor Co led off with a request for a $9 billion credit line. General Motors Corp asked the U.S. government to save it from failure by extending $12 billion in loans and another $6 billion in a credit line.
Politicians worry that without government aid, the companies could collapse and millions of jobs would be lost.
"The greater the delay in help, the more damaged the industry becomes," Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said.
In Moscow, the business daily Vedomosti said VEB bank, Moscow's agent in distributing some of its $200 billion crisis rescue package, has asked the government for an injection of 950 billion roubles ($34 billion),
VEB has already been entrusted with spending 175 billion roubles from Russia's National Wealth Fund on state purchases of domestic shares and corporate bonds, and distributing a further 450 billion roubles in subordinated loans to banks.
Japan, meanwhile, was considering spending 10 trillion yen ($107.4 billion) over the space of three years to support the job market, the Asahi daily reported. (Reporting by Reuters bureaus worldwide)