Joint agencies efforts to tackle extra-legal debts

[webfact]

Joint Agencies Efforts To Tackle Extra-Legal Debts
By Khaosod English

Suspected loan sharks under arrest in Songkhla province, 16 May 2013

BANGKOK: -- Officials from various state agencies have vowed a joint effort to curb the widespread problem of predatory lending and extra-legal debts across the nation.

The initial stage of the operation is to set up committees to settle disputes between the debtors and the extra-legal money lenders, said Mr. Somchai Satchapong, director of the Fiscal Policy Office (FPC).

The committees will be jointly overseen by representatives of the Attorney-General Office, the Revenue Department, the Royal Thai Police, and other related authorities, according to Mr. Somchai.

Another phrase of the solution, Mr. Somchai, is to consult local financial establishments in over 70,000 communities across Thailand and state-owned banks in order to seek a well-balanced advice concerning the issue.

Mr. Somchai said he expected full cooperation and swift responses from the banks, such as opening of additional counters specifically to deal with extra-legal loans in all bank branches, as tackling the deeply-rooted problems of predatory loans will be an indicator of the banks' competence.

Apart from the joint committees and coordination between the banks and the local communities, Mr. Somchai told our correspondent, the Department of Social Development and Human Security and some of the private sector will be asked to provide job training and information about predatory loans to local residents, in order to stamp out the problem.

Furthermore, Mr. Somchai explained, officials will attempt to construct database of the underground loan business in all provinces of Thailand - an ambitious task which might take 3-4 years to complete.

According to available information, 124,000 citizens have applied for help from the authorities concerning their illegal debts between 2011-2013, which amounts to over 12 billion baht worth of debt money.

Mr. Somchai also warned that extra-legal loans business is expected to rise in the coming years, due to increasing prices in basic commodity and the needs of many farmers to secure investment fund for their enterprises.

Source: http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1395044039


-- Khaosod English 2014-03-17

[Crushdepth]

So it's not a crackdown?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Costas2008]

Try to pay the farmers, so they don't have to get the money from the loan sharks, and or commit suicide.

A drop in the ocean and very late of what the FPC is trying to tackle.

Thailand is infested with these people and Mafia organizations.

[Fryslan boppe]

Driving European visitors to a regional airport two days ago and accompanied by some Thai people, these "debt collectors" on their telling two-some motorcycle, helmets and gloves, zipped by us.....I explained to the visitors that these were debt collectors.....In the course of the 1 1/2 hour drive, we encountered three fo them.

I mentioned that I had never seen them when I first arrived in Thailand, but than at one point, all-of-a-sudden, I was encountering them regularly.

I was told that Thaksin eliminated them, but after the 2006 coup, they quickly returned and proliferated.

Edited March 17, 2014 by Fryslan boppe

[jonclark]

I was told that Thaksin eliminated them, but after the 2006 coup, they quickly returned and proliferated.

You were told wrong then

[Baerboxer]

I was told that Thaksin eliminated them, but after the 2006 coup, they quickly returned and proliferated.

You were told wrong then

Do spoil it for him.

Making these little stories up about dear leader "Uncle Takie" and his benevolent utopia is probably his greatest pleasure.

He probably thinks the sun shines out of unlcle's "expletive deleted".

[WhizBang]

I was told that Thaksin eliminated them, but after the 2006 coup, they quickly returned and proliferated.

You were told wrong then

Indeed. Thaksin did not eliminate them. But like everything in Thailand since 2006, these thugs are now operating much more in the open. Perhaps if the police actually did their job and enforced the law, rather than being the biggest criminal organization in Thailand, this would not be a problem.

[surangw]

will this encompass the gold shops too?