Creditor cancels THB1.5 debt after woman burns herself alive

[Jimbolai]

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Scum probably got back most of the original amount already. How generous to forgive the interest after the poor lady immolated herself. alt=bah.gif>

Scum? If I give you a credit we together grown up sign a contract. Which has a high interest rate because the risk of not getting the money back is high. Later you don't pay your part and I am the scum??????

No one forced her into borrowing the money. And 400.000 are surely not because she was starving and need some pork to eat together with her rice.

If you are a small farmer 400.000 is a lot money.

Yes Scum. There is no risk of not getting the money back as the loan is secured with a deed for the land. The high interest rates should be illegal as it is in civilized countries. You surely do not know why she obtained the loan but you sit in judgment. Yes Scum...that is spelled [enter your name].

[wackybacky]

I bet Prayuth sent someone to hold a gun to his head.

But anyway.... You want to get out of debt?... litre of petrol and a lighter.

[NongKhaiKid]

Governments negotiating with 'Loan Sharks'???

What planet does this country live on?

Negotiations, what about a proper investigation into his loansharking activities ?

However he's written off the debt as ' merit making ' so that's all good then.

Idd. You might be excused for thinking that a 'Loan Shark' may have been paying a cut to the local police for a long time in this perfect country.

Surely that sort of thing doesn't go on here, does it ?

[rickirs]

Will the hospital forgive her THB1.5 million in medical care?

[ukrules]

Will the hospital forgive her THB1.5 million in medical care?

I suspect they won't need to as she will probably die from her injuries.

They will sue the estate and probably get 'first dibs' as the illegal loan shark has already settled. Mysteriously this loan shark has not been prosecuted yet.

Will they be prosecuted - not a chance in hell.

Edited October 17, 2014 by ukrules

[MediaWatcher]

hansgruber, on 16 Oct 2014 - 20:58, said:

Fire extinguishers in all government foyers. One under every chair in the waiting room.

Sent from my LG-D858

You're sick.

[MaxLee]

debt written off to save face,.... what a bunch of rats...

[BSJ]

Loan shark scum should be striped of all their assets, lined up against a wall and shot. It would send a clear message that loan sharking is completely unacceptable.

And the victims of loan sharks should be given a swift kick in the behind and told to wake up!

[ukrules]

I have one thing to add 'Remember Tunisia'

[chiang mai]

In Canada they would not forgive her a loan.

In Canada it would have been against the law to issue such a loan in the first place - see usury laws.

[allan michaud]

In Canada they would not forgive her a loan.

In Canada do they have aggressive loan sharks that charge 10% per month? Stupid comment.

[MobileContent]

Governments negotiating with 'Loan Sharks'???

What planet does this country live on?

Often loan sharks are working closely with Kamnan and village heads.

[MobileContent]

Loan sharks will always be around because Thai's love to gambling.

[ukrules]

In Canada they would not forgive her a loan.

In Canada do they have aggressive loan sharks that charge 10% per month? Stupid comment.

They do in the UK too but when they get caught they go to prison for a few years and have ALL of their ill gotten assets stripped.

[allan michaud]

Scum probably got back most of the original amount already. How generous to forgive the interest after the poor lady immolated herself. alt=bah.gif>

Scum? If I give you a credit we together grown up sign a contract. Which has a high interest rate because the risk of not getting the money back is high. Later you don't pay your part and I am the scum??????

No one forced her into borrowing the money. And 400.000 are surely not because she was starving and need some pork to eat together with her rice.

If you are a small farmer 400.000 is a lot money.

Scum, yes. I have direct experience of these people through my wife's family and scum is not nearly a strong enough word. You really have no idea what you are talking about. Many of the people taking these loans have no understanding of what they are getting themselves into and while it is in part due to their ignorance, loan sharks charging people 10% per month and taking peoples homes, cars etc is not acceptable. I sincerely hope you have a Thai family and someone in that family does something similar so you can find out first hand what this is like.

&lt;deleted&gt;.

[KarenBravo]

Don't know why people call these loan sharks "scum".

They are lenders of last resort. If they weren't there, the borrower would be unable to raise funds to cover a medical bill, fertilizer bill, or, some other emergency.

Because the lender is dealing with poor people, there is a very high flight risk, thus the high interest rate.

I've seen it time and time again. Thais borrowing money with absolutely no idea how they will pay back the principle. All they ever do is figure out if they can afford the interest. A few late payments and the debt just piles up. We have a word for this in English.....irresponsible. The lender doesn't force anyone to borrow money from them and as in any law court "ignorance is no defense".

What I would do, is that once the original debt has been paid back plus 100% through the monthly interest payments, then the debt should be considered paid.

I have seen people who have paid the dept four times over, yet, haven't paid a single Baht back of the principle.

I wonder if everyone posting here would have the same attitude if she didn't self-immolate, but, just ran away from her debts? Hypocrisy?

The guy on another thread with debts in the USA was told in no uncertain terms to "be a man" and pay them.

Edited October 17, 2014 by KarenBravo

[BlueSkyCowboy]

In Canada they would not forgive her a loan.

In Canada the loan shark would be in jail and the loan would be declared void because it's illegal to be a loan shark there.

In the US we have credit cards with interest of 29%. Of course that is legal hahahaha just read the 50 page font size 1 agreement. India has many suicides primarily with poison because of loan sharks and poor harvests

Edited October 17, 2014 by BlueSkyCowboy

[Frank James]

If the junta are serious about "reform", other than eliminating the opposition, how about going after loan sharks? Make it possible for desperate people to get some non-predatory debt relief, and also attempt to educate people about basic principles of personal finance.

[ukrules]

It was reported on the Thai language TV that this woman was making loans herself using the borrowed money, presumably to make a profit.

When people didn't pay she was held responsible and could not pay.

She received menacing phone calls telling her she should kill herself from the lender.

[northernboy]

NO in Canada they have check cashing places that charge high fees and reasonable and are basically loan sharks, for the bank under another name.

Ask any Canadian farmer if the banks do not take land if the debts are not paid.

This site talks about loan sharks and interest rates that are not stated and repayments that are not stated as made.

We know nothing about terms or length of the debt. It is illegal to charge on a private loan as much as Thai banks charge. So how can small people get far rates in the private sector? It is set up to make banks rich and keep out competition.

So why do you TV members talking about usury not offer interest free loans in your community. if you feel loan givers are all bad people and the debtors are all exploited victims and really good people.

.

[SOTIRIOS]

......2 things.........

...that 'lending money out' is even considered a profession.....let alone a 'protected profession'.....

...that we do not know all the details of this person who 'set herself on fire'...........

[connda]

Here's a country that desperately needs usury laws. Dream on, 'eh? Even if enacted, they wouldn't be enforced.

[BlueSkyCowboy]

Don't know why people call these loan sharks "scum".

They are lenders of last resort. If they weren't there, the borrower would be unable to raise funds to cover a medical bill, fertilizer bill, or, some other emergency.

Because the lender is dealing with poor people, there is a very high flight risk, thus the high interest rate.

I've seen it time and time again. Thais borrowing money with absolutely no idea how they will pay back the principle. All they ever do is figure out if they can afford the interest. A few late payments and the debt just piles up. We have a word for this in English.....irresponsible. The lender doesn't force anyone to borrow money from them and as in any law court "ignorance is no defense".

What I would do, is that once the original debt has been paid back plus 100% through the monthly interest payments, then the debt should be considered paid.

I have seen people who have paid the dept four times over, yet, haven't paid a single Baht back of the principle.

I wonder if everyone posting here would have the same attitude if she didn't self-immolate, but, just ran away from her debts? Hypocrisy?

The guy on another thread with debts in the USA was told in no uncertain terms to "be a man" and pay them.

So when we see 2 guys with a mask on a bike with no license plate...... do we see enforcers/collectors. I have heard of people in Pattaya who had to leave town to avoid bodily harm

[northernboy]

I bet the loan shark was told in no uncertain terms what to do.

You can be pretty sure that this shark had already got the principle of the loan back anyway, hence the magnanimous gesture.

He should be the one to burn, along with the other sharks who do nothing but prey on victims who have no other options.

She... should be the one to burn. Don't blame it on Men only. Many are women.

[Chris Lawrence]

The army probably had a word in the ear of the loan shark, advising the terms of martial law and how his generous nature will help with the junta's propaganda while he stayed out of jail.

Another momentous win for the junta. Forget about the economy, they are about the little people (while their pockets and the elite grow bigger).

[chiang mai]

If the junta are serious about "reform", other than eliminating the opposition, how about going after loan sharks? Make it possible for desperate people to get some non-predatory debt relief, and also attempt to educate people about basic principles of personal finance.

It's almost impossible to get rid of this problem, often the "loan shark" is a neighbor, acquaintance or even family member who doesn't know what loan rates are in the real world and simply goes by what they've heard, either that or they are trying to make a profit themselves. I've been asked many times to provide loans to Thai's in the family's village and they frequently propose interest rates of 15% to 30%, I always say no because the risk is too great.

[BlueSkyCowboy]

NO in Canada they have check cashing places that charge high fees and reasonable and are basically loan sharks, for the bank under another name.

Ask any Canadian farmer if the banks do not take land if the debts are not paid.

This site talks about loan sharks and interest rates that are not stated and repayments that are not stated as made.

We know nothing about terms or length of the debt. It is illegal to charge on a private loan as much as Thai banks charge. So how can small people get far rates in the private sector? It is set up to make banks rich and keep out competition.

So why do you TV members talking about usury not offer interest free loans in your community. if you feel loan givers are all bad people and the debtors are all exploited victims and really good people.

What happens in the West when u go bankrupt? They sell your house, but in a legal way. Many lost their homes in the US in recent time

.

[KarenBravo]

Don't know why people call these loan sharks "scum".

They are lenders of last resort. If they weren't there, the borrower would be unable to raise funds to cover a medical bill, fertilizer bill, or, some other emergency.

Because the lender is dealing with poor people, there is a very high flight risk, thus the high interest rate.

I've seen it time and time again. Thais borrowing money with absolutely no idea how they will pay back the principle. All they ever do is figure out if they can afford the interest. A few late payments and the debt just piles up. We have a word for this in English.....irresponsible. The lender doesn't force anyone to borrow money from them and as in any law court "ignorance is no defense".

What I would do, is that once the original debt has been paid back plus 100% through the monthly interest payments, then the debt should be considered paid.

I have seen people who have paid the dept four times over, yet, haven't paid a single Baht back of the principle.

I wonder if everyone posting here would have the same attitude if she didn't self-immolate, but, just ran away from her debts? Hypocrisy?

The guy on another thread with debts in the USA was told in no uncertain terms to "be a man" and pay them.

So when we see 2 guys with a mask on a bike with no license plate...... do we see enforcers/collectors. I have heard of people in Pattaya who had to leave town to avoid bodily harm

I don't deny that many of the nastier sort of persons are attracted to this trade, but, if nobody was scared of the "consequences" of non-payment, then no one would pay back. Have seen it with Thais who thought they could get into the business. No one was scared of them, so, they lost all the money they lent out.

Do you think the borrowers don't know the type of people they are getting into bed with? Of course they do!

Something most Thais don't like, but, need to learn about is responsibility for their own actions.

Edited October 17, 2014 by KarenBravo

[Ve37]

Squeezing vulnerable people in debt will always continue, especially in Thailand.

I don't think the Bangkok Elite (Yellow Shirts) get squeezed.

Perhaps Loan Sharking by Bangkok Elitist will get legitimized in the new Constitution.

By the way,...what is the loan percentage of 1.5 million for a THB400k loan.

"Sangwien reportedly secured a loan for THB400,000 but the creditor took advantage of her ignorance and pressured her into interest rate terms that saw her debt balloon to THB1.5 million."

The new Constitution must also be designed to keep to keep ignorant Thai people ignorant,....because non-Elitist Thai who can think, vote for people like Yingluck Shinawatra.

[Eli1]

I should do that to my bank manger...