Indebted teachers appeal to Thai government for solution

[webfact]

Indebted teachers appeal to government for solution

By The Nation

 

 

A GROUP of debt-ridden teachers staged a rally in Nakhon Ratchasima province yesterday to press the government for practical solutions for their plight.

 

“Please don’t just say this or that proposal is not possible. Please also tell us how to solve the problems,” said Suwach Srisod, president of Critically Indebted Teachers and Educational Personnel Club.

 

Suwach Srisod

 

According to him, about 50,000 government teachers or retired teachers are in serious debt. 

 

“Some of these teachers have no home anymore. They have to stay at temples,” said Suwach, a senior teacher in Lampang province. 

 

The rally took place after the so-called Maha Sarakham Declaration, established by another group of teachers, drew heavy criticism from the public. Teachers backing the declaration urged borrowers to stop repayments until financial institutions offered better conditions. 

 

Following the declaration, the Government Savings Bank (GSB) said it would take legal action against defaulters. The GSB said, however, that it would help teachers by suspending the interest on repayments for three years. 

 

Only 1 per cent of teachers have taken advantage of the GSB offer, Suwach said, because most realise that they will not be able to continue repayments after normal payments resume. 

 

Repayment conditions ‘too harsh’

 

“If teachers take out a Bt1.2-million loan, they will be required to pay Bt7,500 as monthly instalments. Of that amount, Bt6,000 will cover interest and Bt1,500 the principal. This means after the three-year interest suspension ends, teachers may have to pay about Bt12,000 a month to cover the [accumulated] interest that was suspended earlier,” he said. 

 

Suwach Srisod

 

Suwach said teachers did not want to default but felt the repayment conditions were too harsh. 

 

“Please offer an appropriate rate of interest and repayment terms,” he said. 

 

Pimchanok Maruthanin, a teacher at a Chiang Mai-based college, said that she was on the verge of losing her house. 

 

“The Government Housing Bank [GHB] has sued me and auctioned off my house,” she said. 

 

She lamented taking a loan for the house in which her family has lived for a long time. 

 

“My dad, who was also a teacher, bought this house. At the time of his passing, he had still not repaid the debt. So, I had to take over the house debt,” Pimchanok said. 

 

She said because she also owed money to the GSB and a teachers’ cooperative, the GHB could deduct Bt3,600 a month from her salary. 

 

“In the end, I am overwhelmed with debt,” she said. “The GHB then went to the court to foreclose my house.” 

 

Pimchanok said that some robust men had turned up at her house twice already, demanding that her elderly mother move away. “My mom is scared,” she said. 

 

Legal Execution Department director-|general Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol said Pimchanok was at the house auction but did not attempt to negotiate her debt with the GHB. 

 

“We found that her debt is now about Bt9.15 million” to various lenders, Ruenvadee said. “Her house value is estimated at Bt1.88 million.” 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30350662

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-07-24

[z42]

Or here is a better idea, don't take out loans unless they are absolutely necessary, and be damn sure that you read the small print before you sign up. These people (mostly) are neandarthals and deserve all the problems they're having.

The lady mentioned at the end was 9 million baht in debt, yet the house that the loan was taken to cover is now only worth 1.8 million baht.

 

Yes, sure there are 2 loans merged into 1. But what the <deleted> are these morons buying to justify taking out such huge loans. Pathetic

[scorecard]

No brain, glad he's not teaching my grandchildren.

[a977]

Rule 1 never borrow more than you can repay.   Rule 2 If this fails refer to Rule 1

[djayz]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Please also tell us how to solve the problems

1. Stop borrowing money,

2. Cut back on your spending and live within your means and 

3. Forget about trying to keep up with the Jones' next door - truth be known, they too are up to their necks in debt.

[rodney earl]

Why not ask for help. It seems like so many people do and the government helps them (but it never works out). If they stopped borrowing money for a new car etc and tried to live within their means they would not be in the situation they are in. 

[Jeremy50]

Unable to accept responsibility for their own actions. Now they want to be bailed out. How about selling some of that crap you bought with someone else's money?

[BobBKK]

I am all for responsibility etc. but to be fair

 

“We found that her debt is now about Bt 9.15 million” to various lenders, Ruenvadee said. “Her house value is estimated at Bt 1.88 million.” 

 

is punitive 

[cmsally]

I presume that not only teachers are in this situation. What a complete mess. On another level , it is very difficult for society to function well if so many people are in a huge amount of debt. It has psychological repercussions.

[colinneil]

The main problem here is the GSB, if their managers learned to say NO once in a while the problem would slowly disappear.

Person goes into GSB i want to borrow 2 million baht, ok what is your employment?

I am a teacher, ok sign here thank you bye bye.

Never checking that the teacher has the ability to repay the debt.

[humbug]

the 1.5 and 1.8 million loans are just one example from this article

 

Another article stated 300,000 teachers out of 450,000 took up the option of 3 million over 30 years

 

now they are saying 50,000 cannot pay their debts

 

thats more than 100 billion baht in defaults and counting.Government Savings Bank wont release the true figures, 

 

What other secters of civil service are in debt with 'their' easy loans

 

 

[djayz]

6 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

I am all for responsibility etc. but to be fair

 

“We found that her debt is now about Bt 9.15 million” to various lenders, Ruenvadee said. “Her house value is estimated at Bt 1.88 million.” 

 

is punitive 

Stupidity must be punished... 

[rodney earl]

At the end of the day, the banks are largely at fault.!!

[Bob12345]

9 minutes ago, rodney earl said:

At the end of the day, the banks are largely at fault.!!

Agree, since banks hired armed people to go around and forced them to accept loans. With a gun to your head it is hard to refuse a few million baht in cash. 

 

/sarcasm

[BEngBKK]

But it would be nice if someone else paied.........

Tam dii, dâai dii. Tam chûua, dâai chûua

[cmsally]

I hate to say this  but there are going to be a few (or more) buying lottery tickets or going to the temple in order to "increase the chances" of getting a windfall!

[humbug]

23 minutes ago, rodney earl said:

At the end of the day, the banks are largely at fault.!!

yes but in this case Government Savings Bank has been used as a 'Bribery Cash Cow'for decades. To keep the civil service backing the 'State' against its enemy 'freedom and a fair transparant society

 

Teachers would be probably the most poorest out of the civil service and on the fringes 

 

but there will be plenty others who've been bribed to keep onside with 'easy loans' and the 'other' benefits

 

 a similar thing happened to Thai Military bank which was listed on the SET but that is Small scale compared to GSB

 

and the Government Savings Bank isnt a listed Co. but controlled the by the 'State'

 

thats why it has been easily used for the Civil Service

[newatthis]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

“My dad, who was also a teacher, bought this house. At the time of his passing, he had still not repaid the debt. So, I had to take over the house debt,” Pimchanok said. 

A term life insurance policy to cover such a predicament should be compulsory with all home loans.

However, it seems like this lady was also a compulsive borrower before her father died.

[seajae]

solution is simple, dont take out loans you have no intention or ability of repaying, these people know damn well if they can or cant afford these loans but dont care. Seize their assets and sell them, they need to realize that they are the ones responsible for their own debts, not the govt. My wife was hounded by teachers at outr daughters school for loans after she married me because all they saw was the farang husband so assumed my wife could give them money they had no intention of repaying, they need to face up to their own mistakes, time to stop letting them off and following through with legal action

[habanero]

How many are Math Teachers?

[BobBKK]

23 minutes ago, habanero said:

How many are Math Teachers?

Economics more to the point...

[robblok]

3 hours ago, BobBKK said:

I am all for responsibility etc. but to be fair

 

“We found that her debt is now about Bt 9.15 million” to various lenders, Ruenvadee said. “Her house value is estimated at Bt 1.88 million.” 

 

is punitive 

Yes but i think the lady just spend too much. No way did interest do this alone. 

[jaltsc]

"...50,000 government teachers or retired teachers are in serious debt."

Easy solution....It's called "Prevention". Don't buy what you can't afford. 

 

How freakin' difficult is that to understand? 

Edited July 24, 2018 by jaltsc

[trianglechoke]

considering the hours and the years of low salary.... teachers deserve a break on loans

[harrry]

Although I do think the teachers should have read and done their maths better I do understand that when the loans were made they had an interest rate round 2%.  This has subsequently been raised to round 7% which makes it a much harder job to reduce balances.

[happy chappie]

I'll give them a tip.dont take out loans.work harder and find a 2nd job,get the partner to do the same.then pay off the loan and don't do it again.where I come from both partners have to work and save for the deposit on a house for probably 10 years then take out a mortgage for most of their lives to by a house the size of my lock up here (50sqm) and pay council tax that's absolute robbery.1 rai in the uk would have about 30 -40 apartments on it.also none would have a car over 500,000 baht either.no sympathy for them.i find teachers and government workers are lazy and no good at their jobs and think they are better than anyone else.i hope the banks squeeze every last baht out of them and bring them down to earth.

[Jonmarleesco]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Suwach said teachers did not want to default but felt the repayment conditions were too harsh. 

I should have hoped it safe to assume that, as teachers, they would have a reasonably high IQ. Apparently not. Otherwise, one would assume they were well aware of the conditions when they borrowed the monies. 

[Redline]

Always understand the contract you are signing.  This was part of the problem of the US housing collapse.

 

Caving into these demands will only cause everyone to demand the same treatment.

[Vacuum]

13 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

I should have hoped it safe to assume that, as teachers, they would have a reasonably high IQ. Apparently not. Otherwise, one would assume they were well aware of the conditions when they borrowed the monies. 

You're assuming too much.

[Buzzboy05]

I visited a teacher one who was in debt by about Bt 2 mil. How it worked because she teacher could borrow money any time as money was stoped from her wages, eventually she had no wages to live on so had to leave teaching ( no more repayments ) and take another job to live. Obviously they don't understand that the money must be paid back. Good place to by a reasonable house is to go to the bank and ask what they have for sale.