Interior Ministry compiling list of loan shark victims: Anutin

Anutin said the findings would be submitted to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for use when the premier announces comprehensive measures for dealing with the long-standing social issue of non-formal debtors. Srettha is slated to announce the measures on November 28.

“We won’t use the term ‘non-banking loans’ in this survey. But we’ll survey loans where the lenders take advantage of the borrowers and slap them with interest rates higher than what is allowed by law,” Anutin said.

“Sometimes, the people make the repayments but the principal doesn’t go down because the interest rates are so high.”

Anutin said that many informal debtors are so afraid of the loan sharks that they won’t lodge complaints, therefore it was incumbent on the government to make the first move.

“We believe that when district chiefs and police stations take care of this issue, loan sharks will be less able to take advantage of those forced to borrow money,” the interior minister said.

He said the district chiefs nationwide would tell those owing money to loan sharks to come and be registered so that their problems could be resolved.

“I think initially, no one will dare to identify themselves so the district chiefs, assistant district chiefs and officials from the Provincial Administration Department must go out and survey their hardships related to the loans.