Buddhist Monk in Thailand Relies on Karma for Lending Success
By WILAWAN WATCHARASAKWET

Microlender sets interest according to borrower’s good deeds, avoids defaults with neighborly peer pressure

BAAN NA KLUEA, Thailand—Buddhist monks aren’t really known for dipping into the material world of finance. Phra Subin Paneeto, though, says he felt he didn’t have much choice when he saw his neighbors near Thailand’s border with Cambodia were struggling to make ends meet.

So, in the early 1990s, he started a microlending operation with a few thousand baht, lending small amounts to villagers to help pay for home repairs, buy new farm machinery and pay off other, larger debts.

Today, Phra Subin’s micro-banking network has amassed about $60 million in deposits and loans.

The idea is that its 66,000 members will each contribute sums ranging from 10 baht to 500 baht, or about 30 cents to $15, a month. Each member who wishes to borrow is bundled together with three to five guarantors, and is allowed to tap more than they put in, at an interest rate of 1% to 2% a month—or less if other villagers agree. Some borrowers pay no interest.

Full story: http://www.wsj.com/articles/buddhist-monk-in-thailand-relies-on-karma-for-lending-success-1431459001

-- THE WALL STREE JOURNAL 2015-05-13

I've always understood that usury, that is the charging of ANY interest on a loan, is not only condemned in the Bhuddist belief but also considered a sin in most other religions..................

Give me a break...1-2% is just enough to cover losses and keep the fund and organization going. In any other language this would be called a NON-profit charity. On the whole this monk is doing a fantastic thing for his community, which is far more than I see a lot of other monks doing.

Give me a break...1-2% is just enough to cover losses and keep the fund and organization going. In any other language this would be called a NON-profit charity. On the whole this monk is doing a fantastic thing for his community, which is far more than I see a lot of other monks doing.

1 to 2% per month is 12 - 24% per year but I suspect it is compounded which effectively makes it higher.

a Banker Monk, a Jet Set LV Monk, a Merc Monk, a Porsche Nun, a Pyramid Scheme Monk, a Tiger Trading Abbot, a Money Laundering Abbot, high-as-a-kite monks, bj monks, drunk monks, i-phone monks, love motel monks, gambling monks, pedo monks, rapist monks, ya ba dealing monks, lottery monks, farang hitting monks...

what do they all have in common?

..., psst, they all love Thailand! (guess why?)

a Banker Monk, a Jet Set LV Monk, a Merc Monk, a Porsche Nun, a Pyramid Scheme Monk, a Tiger Trading Abbot, a Money Laundering Abbot, high-as-a-kite monks, bj monks, drunk monks, i-phone monks, love motel monks, gambling monks, pedo monks, rapist monks, ya ba dealing monks, lottery monks, farang hitting monks...

what do they all have in common?

..., psst, they all love Thailand! (guess why?)

They are all Bahtists following Bahtism the only true religion in LOS.

Buddhist monks aren’t really known for dipping into the material world of finance

...and the winner of the award "Best Comedian of a Decade" goes to WILAWAN WATCHARASAKWET

Give me a break...1-2% is just enough to cover losses and keep the fund and organization going. In any other language this would be called a NON-profit charity. On the whole this monk is doing a fantastic thing for his community, which is far more than I see a lot of other monks doing.

2% per month (exceeding 25% per annum) is usury according to Thai Law.

Interest rates that exceed 15% are considered usurious and will not be enforced by the courts. The courts reduce excessive rates to 15%. Additionally, “interest shall not bear interest.” Compound interest is not an option.

The idea is that its 66,000 members will each contribute sums ranging from 10 baht to 500 baht, or about 30 cents to $15, a month. Each member who wishes to borrow is bundled together with three to five guarantors, and is allowed to tap more than they put in, at an interest rate of 1% to 2% a month

What a nice heart touching story about a caring monk loan shark.

Disrobe please, insult to the dhamma

Give me a break...1-2% is just enough to cover losses and keep the fund and organization going. In any other language this would be called a NON-profit charity. On the whole this monk is doing a fantastic thing for his community, which is far more than I see a lot of other monks doing.

2% per month (exceeding 25% per annum) is usury according to Thai Law.

Interest rates that exceed 15% are considered usurious and will not be enforced by the courts. The courts reduce excessive rates to 15%. Additionally, interest shall not bear interest. Compound interest is not an option.

Fees included in maximum interest?

Agree. There is no end some monks temerity. "Disrobe please, insult to the dhamma"

Regardless of whether the monk is wearing undies or not.

The idea is that its 66,000 members will each contribute sums ranging from 10 baht to 500 baht, or about 30 cents to $15, a month. Each member who wishes to borrow is bundled together with three to five guarantors, and is allowed to tap more than they put in, at an interest rate of 1% to 2% a month

What a nice heart touching story about a caring monk loan shark.

Please investigate (the business) before condemning.

I also give (private) credit to Thais sometimes, I never got cheated by them.

The idea is that its 66,000 members will each contribute sums ranging from 10 baht to 500 baht, or about 30 cents to $15, a month. Each member who wishes to borrow is bundled together with three to five guarantors, and is allowed to tap more than they put in, at an interest rate of 1% to 2% a month

What a nice heart touching story about a caring monk loan shark.

Please investigate (the business) before condemning.

I also give (private) credit to Thais sometimes, I never got cheated by them.

If you're also charging 2% a month you're also a loan shark then.

And do your borrowers also provide you with the money, that you then lend back to them at usury interests?

I don't charge them anything.

Yes, and Thais occasionally give credit to me - something Faranksters would never do.

I don't charge them anything.

Yes, and Thais occasionally give credit to me - something Faranksters would never do.

The subject of this thread is not what you do or what other foreigners would do, but what this particular monk does, and it is called outright loan sharking.

He collects money from his members and lends it back to them at an interest rate which is against the law in Thailand.

However I'm sure he has an open accounting so everyone can check what happened to the moneys given to him. Maybe this is the next monk that will disappear in his private jet soon.

15 pct pa interest would be the legal margin, as someone said. Euro banks tend to add fees on this. Sometimes the High Courts finds a certain fee illegal, then banksters invent a new one.

Microlending (sometimes called "micro credit") is an international concept in the "Third World" for the poor to raise money, so the monks are under the eyes of the world.

Look at US Dollar notes, what's it say about promise and trust ?

Feel free to answer.

I've always understood that usury, that is the charging of ANY interest on a loan, is not only condemned in the Bhuddist belief but also considered a sin in most other religions..................

Obviously not Judaism.

15 pct pa interest would be the legal margin, as someone said. Euro banks tend to add fees on this. Sometimes the High Courts finds a certain fee illegal, then banksters invent a new one.

Microlending (sometimes called "micro credit") is an international concept in the "Third World" for the poor to raise money, so the monks are under the eyes of the world.

Look at US Dollar notes, what's it say about promise and trust ?

Feel free to answer.

I don't know what you try to score with your comments, but an interest rate of 2% monthly calculates to 26.24% annually, which is much higher than the legal 15% allowed by THAI government, and we are not in Euro land so Euro bank fees don't come in play here.

Since the monk is also collecting deposits from his members he would also need a banking license.

Now which part of illegal practices you fail to understand?

Interest on interest is the core principle of capital accumulation, Protestant Ethics its religion, land-taking and exploitation of human bodies its instruments.

Interest on interest is the core principle of capital accumulation, Protestant Ethics its religion.

Good night boy, keep trolling with off topic comments.

Some trust in God, some trust in Karma, some trust in nothing at all.

Lap fan dee.

15 pct pa interest would be the legal margin, as someone said. Euro banks tend to add fees on this. Sometimes the High Courts finds a certain fee illegal, then banksters invent a new one.

Microlending (sometimes called "micro credit") is an international concept in the "Third World" for the poor to raise money, so the monks are under the eyes of the world.

Look at US Dollar notes, what's it say about promise and trust ?

Feel free to answer.

I don't know what you try to score with your comments, but an interest rate of 2% monthly calculates to 26.24% annually, which is much higher than the legal 15% allowed by THAI government, and we are not in Euro land so Euro bank fees don't come in play here.

Since the monk is also collecting deposits from his members he would also need a banking license.

Now which part of illegal practices you fail to understand?

OP says 1 to 2 pct per month, 1 pct would not be illegal.

I suggest that people here Google this monk's name before accusing him of being a loan shark, acting counter to the precepts of Buddhism, etc etc. You will see a lot of sources (including books, a report from the Asian Development Bank, and a Nation article from 1996) that all commend him on his work in helping and educating the poor. Countrary to the suggestions made here, he is not personally benefiting from this work. Of course, the cynical folks of Thai visa know better than that and would prefer to heap contempt on the man based on a single brief report and their expertise on all things Thai.

I suggest that people here Google this monk's name before accusing him of being a loan shark, acting counter to the precepts of Buddhism, etc etc. You will see a lot of sources (including books, a report from the Asian Development Bank, and a Nation article from 1996) that all commend him on his work in helping and educating the poor. Countrary to the suggestions made here, he is not personally benefiting from this work. Of course, the cynical folks of Thai visa know better than that and would prefer to heap contempt on the man based on a single brief report and their expertise on all things Thai.

Shame on those Thaivisa cynics, because in the past no Thai monks have scammed Thai people for hundreds and hundreds of Million Baht.

I could make a list with names and amounts from the past 12 months alone, but that would make this post too long.

And 99% of that money was gained by illegal means

And 99% of that money was gained by illegal means

Hope you have proof for a statement like this.

a Banker Monk, a Jet Set LV Monk, a Merc Monk, a Porsche Nun, a Pyramid Scheme Monk, a Tiger Trading Abbot, a Money Laundering Abbot, high-as-a-kite monks, bj monks, drunk monks, i-phone monks, love motel monks, gambling monks, pedo monks, rapist monks, ya ba dealing monks, lottery monks, farang hitting monks...

what do they all have in common?

..., psst, they all love Thailand! (guess why?)

Are you sure you don't mean Catholic priests or Protestant preachers?

Give me a break...1-2% is just enough to cover losses and keep the fund and organization going. In any other language this would be called a NON-profit charity. On the whole this monk is doing a fantastic thing for his community, which is far more than I see a lot of other monks doing.

2% per month (exceeding 25% per annum) is usury according to Thai Law.

Interest rates that exceed 15% are considered usurious and will not be enforced by the courts. The courts reduce excessive rates to 15%. Additionally, interest shall not bear interest. Compound interest is not an option.

Fees included in maximum interest?

no idea. never had a loan in Thailand.

And 99% of that money was gained by illegal means

Hope you have proof for a statement like this.

no need for proof when posting any rubbish here