Thai government wants to crack down on illegal lenders

Corretje, I can assure you that 20% per day is common in Isan. I know small traders who borrow 1000 baht and have to pay back 1200 baht the next morning. When I once jokingly said that I could do it cheaper, I was subsequently visited by 2 men who asked if I was serious. It was made clear to me that it would have consequences. When I explained it was a joke they became very friendly and offered beer.

I still see them almost every day the minions of the loansharks .
They still ride with 2 people on a fast bike, in this case always with a helmet worn by both the driver and the passenger.
When I see them as simple farang living in a hamlet somewhere in Thailand.
Doesn't the local Thai police see them then?
I think this is another one of many balloons with a capacity of 44 liters .
And whether the loansharks pay taxes , and every year neatly filled in to the best of our knowledge and belief .
Even the current Junta believes in fairy tales.

Jan Beute.

Borrowing without property is difficult, almost impossible so people soon end up in the illegal circuit, but with a little bit of property it becomes a bit easier to get some money, my sister-in-law brought her necklace to the local gold shop and paid the amount received 3 percent per month, still 36 percent on an annual basis, but better 20 percent per month.

In the small town in rural Northern Thailand that we know, people who want to borrow from loansharks go to the courthouse.

The borrowers are people who can no longer turn to the banks for a loan because they have nothing (anymore) to give as collateral. The "loanshark loans" are distributed by the friendly ladies in the food stalls around the courthouse. Of course under the watchful eye of the law enforcement officers who reside there professionally.

We live in a middle class neighborhood. Our neighbor is a senior judicial officer and his wife runs such a food stall with ditto financial service. A policeman with a high(er) cap also lives in our neighborhood and his wife also has a stall there with a similar extra service. The wife of the deputy prison director who lived in our neighborhood, ditto.

All those decent middle-class ladies regularly ask my wife if we can provide capital for their additional financial activities in the food stalls. Net yield 10% per month for the capital provider. Net cost 20% for the borrower who uses the extra financial service in the food stalls.

My wife “invested” a relatively limited amount in this trade, a few thousand euros. The return is high. I feared the risk was too. But that turned out to be okay.

For example, a few years ago the wife of the deputy prison warden was in financial trouble herself, partly due to her unbridled gambling lust. For a while she was unable to pay interest or capital back to her lenders. The deputy prison director has meanwhile been transferred to another, far-away province. Their family home was sold and all capital providers were duly repaid, albeit with a year's delay and partly without the agreed interest.

Enforcement through existing regulations ??? Art. 44 to stop this??? Who should do that??? Just about everything and everyone who represents "the arm of the law" digs into that rack, even more, they own and manage the entire trade.