Cabinet endorses removing criminal liability from writing bad cheques

[webfact]

The Cabinet approved a bill on Tuesday which aims to amend the Act Governing Offenses Arising from the Use of Cheques (the Cheque Act), by decriminalising the issuing of bad cheques in most circumstances.

 

Government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said that the cabinet’s decision is in line with Section 77 of the Constitution, which states that criminal penalties are meant for serious offences and must be in line with international principles of the rights of the people and political rights, namely that a person should not be imprisoned simply because they have defaulted on debt repayments.

 

He said that the Thai Bankers Association (TBA) agrees, in principle, that people who bounce cheques should not be subject to criminal penalties, but raised reservations over abrogating the entire Cheque Act, noting that civil proceedings to recover payments associated with bounced cheques are time consuming and may be unfair to creditors.

 

Government House Chai Wacharonke

 

Full story: Thai PBS 2023-11-23

 

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[mokwit]

Perhaps we can guess now as to how the Govt plans to fund its election promises.

[Sydebolle]

What a pity; I was lucky enough to take two bouncing checks to the court and managed to get them honoured and paid upon threatening to impound other assets. Regretfully the minimum bouncing amount had to be THB 100'000; I still have two checks just below that. But, as the saying goes, sometimes you win ....... 

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, mokwit said:

Perhaps we can guess now as to how the Govt plans to fund its election promises.

Those infamous Thai words "Can I borrow"

[herfiehandbag]

So, will it be extended to more modern methods of making payments?

 

"The digital wallet payment is in the post" perhaps!

[riclag]

No accountability, no responsibility!

Dont accept checks in Thailand!

 

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, riclag said:

No accountability, no responsibility!

Dont accept checks in Thailand!

 

A Bank cheque is normally honored by the bank, as it is not a personal cheque as such. IMO

[mrfill]

Decriminialise fraud.

 

What could possibly go wrong???

[TheFishman1]

For sure all these politicians are smoking crack TIT

[sirineou]

I did a double take when I read this headline.

It makes no sense, why decriminalise criminal behaviour?  

[Retfed50]

"Criminal penalties are meant for serious offenses"..........Like picking mushrooms!

[KanchanaburiGuy]

I had several retail businesses in the U.S. back when writing checks was popular and common. Behind the register, I had this sign:

 

CHECK POLICY:

 

1) Your check is not cash. You check is CREDIT until it clears the bank. We require the same identification for a check that we'd require from anyone asking us for CREDIT.

 

2) If you write a check you know will not clear IMMEDIATELY, we consider that nothing but CREATIVE SHOPLIFTING. You are taking something you know you haven't paid for. Those people will be treated accordingly.

 

3) When a check bounces, we get notified by the bank. So do you. In fact, you normally get notified BEFORE we do! 

 

     A) Honest mistakes will gladly be forgiven.

     B) if you notify us of the situation or we only have to contact you ONCE, we will accept it as an honest mistake.

     C) If we have to contact you more than once to get paid, we will conclude it was NOT an "honest mistake." See #2 above.

 

4) Next to this sign is our Wall of Shame. Anyone who has to be contacted more than twice to make their check good will have their name and a copy of their bad check posted under the heading "CHECK DEADBEATS." This will be done regardless of the amount of the check. 

 

*****************

 

If you feel it is okay to take things from our store without paying for them, we feel we are under no obligation to protect you from your friends and neighbors knowing about it.

 

We take pride in trying to do the best job we can for our customers. People who knowingly write us bad checks are not "customers." There's another word for what they are!

 

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by KanchanaburiGuy

[jchfriis]

Where I come from Personal checks haven't been in use for over 20 years. Maybe it's time for the Thai banking system to move with the times.

[scottiejohn]

47 minutes ago, jchfriis said:

Where I come from Personal checks haven't been in use for over 20 years.

Which country is it that has not had the use of Personal cheques for over 20 years?

Are you saying they are ;

a: banned by the government ?

b: banned by the banks

c: are just "not being used" by the majority or

d: just "not being used" by you?

 

 

 

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by scottiejohn

[gargamon]

When I lived in the Philippines, my main method of bringing money into the country was depositing a check from my account in a US bank and deposit it into my local PI US dollar account. It would take about a month to clear, but it got US dollars into the Philippines at absolutely no cost.

 

Flash forward to trying to do the same thing here. The bank treated me like I was a criminal. When they saw I had a book of blank checks it confirmed (to them) their suspicions. They even were pointing out the blank checks to each other as if they had never seen a customer with them before. Then they told me there was a $100+ fee to deposit the check. I gave up.

 

So the point of this rant, Thais don't use checks.

 

The article says people. Does this mean corporations can write bad checks too without penalty? 

[jchfriis]

2 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Which country is it that which has not had the use of Personal cheques for over 20 years?

Are you saying they are ;

a: banned by the government ?

b: banned by the banks

c: are just "not being used" by the majority or

d: just "not being used" by you?

 

Norway

Not banned.

The banks just don't issue them. Too expensive for the banks to handle.

So you get a debit card, internet banking and apps for your phone.