Thailand’s Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says that he has instructed district officers across the country to coordinate with police to tackle the informal debt problem and to reach out to informal debtors.
He disclosed that, in the past, informal debtors were encouraged to come forward for registration, to access state help, but many dared not identify themselves for fear of reprisals from their creditors, because they are often “influential figures” in their communities.
He said that he would prefer to call informal lenders “exploiters”, because they often charge very high interest rates, adding that numerous debtors have made the required repayments, yet the principal owed has not decreased.
The main reason why informal debt persists and expands is because the debtors are afraid of their creditors and dare not speak up against them, said Anutin.
He also said that…
