AUDITS by Thai Customs have long been a source of dread for importers. They were typically drawn-out affairs, usually with the threat of a very large assessment at the end of the process. Every point would be argued long and hard, with previously agreed issues resurrected to push towards a settlement.

DR RAK Vorrakitpokatorn worries that too many people are shut out of the credit system. He is determined to cast the net wider than the banks do and draw into the system people from all walks of life - from street food vendors and motorbike taxi drivers to disabled people with business ideas. And then there are all the smaller enterprises denied loans by the banks.