Thai Police crackdown on loan sharks; build list of 1,000 suspects

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Police crackdown on loan sharks; build list of 1,000 suspects

 

 

BANGKOK, April 6th, 2017 (NNT) - The Royal Thai Police force has put together a list of 1,000 suspects involved in loan sharking across the country and is moving to build evidence to seek warrants for their arrest. 

Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, Pol Gen Chalermkiat Sriworakhan was briefed via videoconference on the progress of cases involving informal debt and loan sharks. He instructed all nine provincial police divisions to build their cases against informal creditors who arrange loans with illegally high interest rates. 

In accordance with due process, the evidence will be filed in court to seek arrest warrants. Most of the 1,000 suspects fall within the jurisdictions of Provincial Police Divisions 1 and 2. 

Informal creditors who have not registered with the government are allowed to provide loans at 1.25% interest per month or 15% interest per year.

 

-- nnt 2017-04-06

[darksidedog]

Now this seems to be a very good initiative, as some evil money lenders charge exorbitant interest and put poor people in a debt trap forever.

A point I believe though is being missed here is that Thais do borrow money very regularly and the banks are not too good at giving a loan in 20 minutes.

If you stop all the money lending going on, you run the very real risk of putting thousands of people out of work, from a short term cash flow issue.

Simultaneous to this, the Government should be introducing a swift acting state lending scheme at standard commercial rates to cover the problem.

Had they actually done so already, we would not have the loan shark problem in the first place.

[daveAustin]

Police crackdown on loan sharks; build list of 1,000 suspects...

 

...minding that they don't step on any colleagues' toes. 

[01322521959]

Well, I saw the 2 chaps on the Honda CBR 150 withe identical cream jackets arrive at the condo for their weekly money collection. (:

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[Chug]

Just like every government in the world, the programs they create never benefit the people they are intended to benefit. The Government has supposedly put put programs in plave with the banks to provide out small loans. HOWEVER,, they require collateral, and the banks charge 5,000 baht for initial fees and paperwork to come look at your collateral;, and they require that you take out a Life Insurance Policy with the Bank for the term of the Loan.  For a small loan, the 15% interest is not 15% with all of the added fees.  

[fruitman]

3 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Police crackdown on loan sharks; build list of 1,000 suspects...

 

...minding that they don't step on any colleagues' toes. 

And that a few weeks ago they already arrested the German loanshark who wasn't even a shark at all....

 

So now there are 1000 more sharks and probably much bigger ones than the German who wasn't a shark.

[thaigirlwatcher]

On 4/5/2017 at 10:29 PM, darksidedog said:

Now this seems to be a very good initiative, as some evil money lenders charge exorbitant interest and put poor people in a debt trap forever.

A point I believe though is being missed here is that Thais do borrow money very regularly and the banks are not too good at giving a loan in 20 minutes.

If you stop all the money lending going on, you run the very real risk of putting thousands of people out of work, from a short term cash flow issue.

Simultaneous to this, the Government should be introducing a swift acting state lending scheme at standard commercial rates to cover the problem.

Had they actually done so already, we would not have the loan shark problem in the first place.

Couldn't agree with you more.  Why doesn't the Thai  banking system work with its many low income people? I think because some of the elites in BKK benefit from this scheme. 

[toybits]

This is really great!  How I with they would also start a program where citizens could anonymously report suspected illegal gambling dens and brothels. Wouldn't that be great?