Thai Loan Sharks Insist They're Just Helping

[george]

Loan sharks insist they're just helping out the poor

Loan sharks across the country yesterday railed against a government attempt to sanction them and warned the authorities to stop meddling in private financial transac-tions between borrowers and lenders.

The nation's illegal lending operations were reacting to an Interior Ministry circular calling on them to register with the authorities, as part of a government plan to solve the problem of loan sharking.

"The circular is pure nonsense. Since loan sharking is illegal, who in their right mind would walk into jail?" said one loan shark from Si Sa Ket. He admitted that he charged monthly interest of 25 per cent, but insisted that was just because his clients were high-risk borrowers who did not have access to bank loans.

"Will the government share the risk factor if loan sharks agree to lower their interest charges?" he asked, referring to a government threat to encourage loan defaults in retaliation for high interest payments.

A loan shark from Khon Kaen said borrowers went to him as a last resort because they had no other way of accessing money.

"My clients are fully aware of the interest charges when they take out the loans. I consider my lending services as a life line for the poor, even though I am an outlaw in the legal sense," he said.

A Songkhla loan shark said the government came up with a half-baked policy aimed at lenders, without taking into account the risk factor of loan shark operations.

"Loan sharks thrive because many poor people have been denied bank loans," he said.

"Loan sharks are willing to bear the high risk involved if they can expect a return on their investment. If the government forced them out of business, the poor would be the real victims," he said.

--