I read an article on forum posted in April regarding high debt Thais are carrying and increase in defaults. I found another article that said The statute of limitations for credit-card debt _ a time limit within which the bank must sue the debtor _ is two years from the date following the debtor's default on payment. Failure by the bank to sue...

My question is if a Thai person bought a Toyota car and put down 100,000 tb deposit and monthly payment of 9,000 tb. After 4 months of paying he realized he could not afford car and turned it in. The bank is saying he must pay 150,000 and he does not have car. They said he can go to jail if he does not pay. Is that true? Is there debtor prison in Thailand!

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No

If the bank financed the car then the debt is with that bank and not with the dealer to whom the car may have been returned. My info from a lawyer once was that a debt in Thailand has a five year recovery period after which the debt is deemed unrecoverable. That time count starts from the last payment made. A court case has to won by the lender if a case is taken out within that 5 year period and that can lead to imprisonment if the debt is unpaid. Not a debtors' prison, just a regular one !

Now you have me confused so if has no ability to pay then he can be taken to court and because he has no money can go to prison. For how long? Will the debt go away after prison? Also he paid $136,000 and only had use of the vehicle for four months.

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He should have worked out some deal with the bank and the dealer who might have bought back the car from him. Yes, if he cannot pay then the bank could sue him and take him to court where he could face a jail term. It depends on the judge how long that jail term might be and theoretically the debt might still be owed if 5 years have not passed from last payment when he gets out of jail. It is not the bank's fault that he only had the car for 4 months nor is it relevant how much he paid so far.

Edited June 10, 201412 yr by petercool

A link to the Bangkok post removed. Please note that the Bangkok post does not allow quotes or links from Thaivisa.

This is also stipulated in our forum rules.

Further, I have moved this thread to banking as it is not Pattaya specific.

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No debtor prison...just the typical legal efforts by the company making the loan to recover as much repayment as possible based on the loan contract/law...pretty much like all other countries.

If the bank financed the car then the debt is with that bank and not with the dealer to whom the car may have been returned. My info from a lawyer once was that a debt in Thailand has a five year recovery period after which the debt is deemed unrecoverable. That time count starts from the last payment made. A court case has to won by the lender if a case is taken out within that 5 year period and that can lead to imprisonment if the debt is unpaid. Not a debtors' prison, just a regular one !

No, you are most definitely wrong.

Debt will result in a credit blacklist for 10 years.

During that time any land, bank account contents, or vehicle in the name of the debtor may be seized and sold to pay off the debt.

After the 10 years, it's forgotten.

No jail time, they wouldn't have the space to put all the Thais that have failed to pay back a loan.

(I believe it may have recently been reduced to 5 years, but still no jail)

Edited June 10, 201412 yr by AnotherOneAmerican

I don't think Thailand has enough room in they're prisons if this was the case!