The government has returned land and assets worth more than 3 billion baht pledged as collateral to borrowers as part of a bid to ease the plight of debtors who have fallen victim to loan sharks.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon yesterday presided over a ceremony in Udon Thani province to return land to informal debtors, part of 7,000 rai and other assets being handed back in ceremonies nationwide.
The move follows government crackdowns on loan-sharking and successful debt-settlement negotiations with debtors.
The government has assigned Gen Prawit to oversee a joint operation to crack down on loan sharks who charge much higher interest rates than the law allows, and help debtors to negotiate with informal lenders for debt settlement.
The joint operation involves the Internal Security Operations Command, the Interior Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry and the Royal Thai Police.
Loan sharks are a major problem in Thailand, especially in the Northeast and the South.
Apart from charging high interest rates, these loan sharks also make vast profits from seizing property which borrowers had placed as collateral.
Residents in these regions prefer to deal with loan sharks rather than commercial banks because of accessibility and convenience.
The government relaunched a campaign to crackdown on loan sharks in May. The campaign went into high gear after Gen Prawit ordered police, soldiers and local authorities to intensify the crackdown.
At a ceremony in Udon Thani yesterday, Gen Prawit, also the defence minister, handed 1,523 title deeds covering 6,309 rai to 1,778 Northeast residents. Also present were defence permanent secretary Gen Theppong Thipayachan and army chief Gen Chalermchai Sittisad.
"This government has not ignored the problem. It is solving a fundamental problem and treating it as a national strategy to create opportunities and social equality," Gen Prawit said.
Defence spokesman, Kongcheep Tantrawanit, said there were about 900,000 informal debtors nationwide with the majority, or about 560,000, in the Northeast.
Most were low-income farmers and people who had been taken advantage of and deprived of their land and farming tools. They had heavy financial burdens, faced threats and were vulnerable to violence, Lt Gen Kongcheep said.
The government has restructured informal debts for 209,538 debtors and freed about 7,000 rai of land and many vehicles worth about 3 billion baht pledged as collateral. Ceremonies were organised nationwide to return the assets to 2,287 debtors yesterday, the spokesman said.
In Nakhon Ratchasima, the Provincial Police Region 3 yesterday returned 907 land title deeds, 50 cars and motorcycles to debtors.
In total, the assets returned were worth more than 891 million baht. Efforts were also being made to help 705 debtors to negotiate debt settlement with their lenders, officials said.
In Phitsanulok, the Provincial Police Region 6 handed land title deeds worth more than 57 million baht to 209 people in the lower North and upper Central region.
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