AMLO seizes 79 million baht worth of assets from an informal money lender

[webfact]

AMLO seizes 79 million baht worth of assets from an informal money lender



BANGKOK: -- The Anti-Money Laundering Office has frozen about 79 million baht worth of assets belonging to a Khon Kaen-based money lender who allegedly cheated her customers of their land plots used to guarantee the extended loans.

AMLO secretary-general Pol Col Sihanart Prayoonrat identified the alleged fraudster as Mrs Sarunya Yotsaowapark of Chumpae district. He alleged that Mrs Sarunya and her associates offered loans to any customers who are in need of cash who are required to put up their land title deeds as a surety.

But instead of making some customers to sign loan contracts, he said they were duped to sign contracts to sell their land plots or to sell their land with the right of redemption.

Normally, he said that the gang would not pay its customers the full amount of loan but would deduct the loan as advance interest payment, said the colonel, citing a case in which one client signed a loan contract for 250,000 baht but was actually given only 50,000 baht.

But when a customer defaulted in instalment payment, he would be exorbitantly charged for default to the point he could no longer pay and had to give away his land title deeds, said the colonel.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/amlo-seizes-79-million-baht-worth-of-assets-from-an-informal-money-lender


-- Thai PBS 2015-11-26

[JeremyBowskill]

Thai rak Thai still has got to be the most ironic name ever.

[doremifasol]

And since when loan sharks became "informal money lenders?

What is that? A title to make it sound legit?

GRRRRRRR..................

[NongKhaiKid]

Bt 79 Million in assets seized and goodness only knows how much she actually coined in.

If that's an ' informal ' business I wonder what she would have earned if she had taken the job seriously ?

[Prbkk]

And since when loan sharks became "informal money lenders?

What is that? A title to make it sound legit?

GRRRRRRR..................

Shark, con artist, shyster, charlatan, crook,scammer, chiseler, swindler

They all belong in prison

[NongKhaiKid]

And since when loan sharks became "informal money lenders?

What is that? A title to make it sound legit?

GRRRRRRR..................

Shark, con artist, shyster, charlatan, crook,scammer, chiseler, swindler

They all belong in prison

Appropriate set of descriptions but not always applicable here depending on an individual's occupation, status, connections etc otherwise the expression ' honest mistake ' might be suitable.

[JAG]

Will that 79 million Baht be returned to the losers, or has it already been " accounted for"?

[4evermaat]

Thai version of payday loans.

[timewilltell]

This is happening everywhere and the courts support these informal money lenders who are all cheating and circumventing Thai law - imagine the uproar if they were foreigners rather than Thai doing it - such is the duplicity here!. The court even accepts the argument that the illegal rates of interest charged is not interest but cmoensation. The courts will also not convict these people for the offences they commit. I am pleased to see AMLO have more sense than the courts seem to.

[docshock13]

Thailand really needs to look at the way commercial banks lend money so that low-income earners are able to secure loans thru legitimate means. As it stands, it is nearly impossible for most to get a loan thru a major commercial bank and hence the existence of this major black market in loan sharking.

Lending reforms could also be a major boost to the economy.

[technologybytes]

I would not trust the accuracy of any of the numbers in this story.

Money lenders are normal in any country, and Thailand is no exception. Everybody knows that if you borrow money from a loan shark that you have to pay it back or you either lose your security if its a secured loan, or you get hurt if its an unsecured loan.

There are ethical and unethical money lenders, sadly the ethical ones get burned when they learn the hard way that lending money to people who cannot afford to pay it back is a bad business model unless you can give the client a good incentive to pay up. The threat of losing land is a good incentive, and so is the threat of violence. Most lenders never want to resort seizing security or breaking bones, but to be successful in the business you have to demonstrate your willingness to do so if the need arises.

I know a man who loaned money to lots of poor villagers in the hope that it would help them, of course he didn't take any real security and there was no implied threat of violence... you can guess what happened, some were making repayments at the beginning and some were not, when the ones making repayments learned that nothing happened to the ones who didn't pay they all stopped paying. He lost all his money and lost the respect of the people too.

[huangnon]

And since when loan sharks became "informal money lenders?

What is that? A title to make it sound legit?

GRRRRRRR..................

Shark, con artist, shyster, charlatan, crook,scammer, chiseler, swindler

They all belong in prison

It does explain Thailand's enviable 0% unemployment figure.

"Money-lender" and "sooth-sayer" seem to be venerated career options here.

[SOTIRIOS]

.....this is how 'hi-so' local scum families distinguish themselves....

.....I wish they would go after all of them in earnest....

[worgeordie]

Informal money lender,is that different from a loan shark?

regards worgeordie

[spidermike007]

Thailand really needs to look at the way commercial banks lend money so that low-income earners are able to secure loans thru legitimate means. As it stands, it is nearly impossible for most to get a loan thru a major commercial bank and hence the existence of this major black market in loan sharking.

Lending reforms could also be a major boost to the economy.

The banks here are incredibly conservative with lending. It might make sense for the government to create some programs that simplify the process, for smaller businesses or individuals. These money lenders are filling a vacuum. But, perhaps they could be regulated on some level? And if they were severely penalized for the kind of atrocious, and heinous behavior that this article describes, they might run a little scared, and behave in a more decent fashion. But, that would require law and order, planning, intelligent policy, implementation, and follow up. Sorry. Forgot for a moment where I was living.

[patekatek]

Parasitic behavior exhibited by parasites. It's unfortunate that the education system in Thailand is so poor that many Thais cannot distinguish the difference between losing their land or what day of the week it is when confronted with a contract or any type of financial arrangement. Similar, I suppose to the housing crash we experienced a few years ago in the States when the predatory lending practices of many financial institutions had welfare recipients receiving loans of $200,000 to buy a one or two bedroom shack in a ghetto.

[bheard]

The 'Thainess' aspect of this is that the Thai government appears to lack the will to put a stop to the practice.

Makes you think that maybe people who pull the stings are involved . . .

[piersbeckett]

The 'Thainess' aspect of this is that the Thai government appears to lack the will to put a stop to the practice.

Makes you think that maybe people who pull the stings are involved . . .

The government does compete in the secured money lending market at reasonable rates, I'm told, but, like you say, where corruption is deep rooted no pie is left un-fingered.

[LannaGuy]

when will Thais start being Buddhist? anyway a disgusting human being lock her away

[SoFarAndNear]

Will that 79 million Baht be returned to the losers, or has it already been " accounted for"?

Reward for the police work.

[oneday]

"...informal money lender..."

My God, what euphemisms they come up with. They are called "Loan Sharks" for a reason.

[losworld]

I would not trust the accuracy of any of the numbers in this story.

Money lenders are normal in any country, and Thailand is no exception. Everybody knows that if you borrow money from a loan shark that you have to pay it back or you either lose your security if its a secured loan, or you get hurt if its an unsecured loan.

There are ethical and unethical money lenders, sadly the ethical ones get burned when they learn the hard way that lending money to people who cannot afford to pay it back is a bad business model unless you can give the client a good incentive to pay up. The threat of losing land is a good incentive, and so is the threat of violence. Most lenders never want to resort seizing security or breaking bones, but to be successful in the business you have to demonstrate your willingness to do so if the need arises.

I know a man who loaned money to lots of poor villagers in the hope that it would help them, of course he didn't take any real security and there was no implied threat of violence... you can guess what happened, some were making repayments at the beginning and some were not, when the ones making repayments learned that nothing happened to the ones who didn't pay they all stopped paying. He lost all his money and lost the respect of the people too.

Anyone who has been in Thailand for any amount of time realizes few pay back their loans. However, this is not reason to allow unscrupulous lenders to steal land from the poor. The man you know sounds somewhat a fool. He should have just given them grants rather than loans. Even the banks in Thailand are learning this with all the car repossessions.

And yes strangely Thais will look at this as weakness but maybe because they have been abused by loan sharks for so long. They also look at two week farang millionaires as fools too or the bigi boys buying the houses for the Thai gals.

[billd766]

The 'Thainess' aspect of this is that the Thai government appears to lack the will to put a stop to the practice.

Makes you think that maybe people who pull the stings are involved . . .

Oddly enough, no other government ever bothered to do anything either, Though this one seems to be trying to something though not that successfully.

[from the home of CC]

Lived in a small village for years running a grocery and saw the effects of this loan sharking first hand. Coupled with gambling, saw more than a few lose their land. The cops would witness the 'arrangement' (for a fee) which I guess added some kind of credibility to this dubious practice. Same thing happened when thaksin years ago made available easy loans to poor farmers up north, many who ended up losing their land to the banks. He got the votes and the banks got their land. Thai kids should learn in school the pitfalls of borrowing money from any source, though it definitely is deeplly ingrained throught Thai society. From what I've read, in China it's even more common as the banks tend to be stricter. Hell, all you have to look at is the mortgage meltdown in the states, if you make money easy to borrow without checks people will put themselves into a hole.

[JAG]

The 'Thainess' aspect of this is that the Thai government appears to lack the will to put a stop to the practice.

Makes you think that maybe people who pull the stings are involved . . .

What, the wealthy and well connected involved in exploiting the poor, never!

[fekman]

My gf's uncle has been a 'lender' for 30+ years. She invests half her salary with him, and he pays her 10% a month on her money!!! He lends at 1% a day. She receives over 20k a month in interest now, and can almost retire on it at the age of 24.

.

That return makes my mouth water. Every time ive been greedy in my investing life, I have lost. Lesson learned a long time ago. As soon as her uncle would receive a foreigner investment, the loans would "go bad for the first time in 30 years". LOL

[from the home of CC]

My gf's uncle has been a 'lender' for 30+ years. She invests half her salary with him, and he pays her 10% a month on her money!!! He lends at 1% a day. She receives over 20k a month in interest now, and can almost retire on it at the age of 24.

.

That return makes my mouth water. Every time ive been greedy in my investing life, I have lost. Lesson learned a long time ago. As soon as her uncle would receive a foreigner investment, the loans would "go bad for the first time in 30 years". LOL

I was offered the chance to get in too, years ago. Just didn't sit well with me and I'm glad I turned down the offer.

[fekman]

My gf's uncle has been a 'lender' for 30+ years. She invests half her salary with him, and he pays her 10% a month on her money!!! He lends at 1% a day. She receives over 20k a month in interest now, and can almost retire on it at the age of 24.

.

That return makes my mouth water. Every time ive been greedy in my investing life, I have lost. Lesson learned a long time ago. As soon as her uncle would receive a foreigner investment, the loans would "go bad for the first time in 30 years". LOL

I was offered the chance to get in too, years ago. Just didn't sit well with me and I'm glad I turned down the offer.

Actually, it was never offered to me, and I only know about it as I pressed her for information. But I doubt my investment would be turned down! They are notoriously short sighted here. He would probably steal the first investment and miss out on all future investment. We call it "Take the penny, leave the dollar"