Ten loan sharks were arrested and more than 300 land title deeds seized during joint police-military raids on their houses in Muang district of Buri Ram on Thursday.
The searches followed complaints they charged extremely high interest rates.
More than 300 title deeds the money lenders had seized from borrowers were taken away for examination, along with many loan contracts.
Ten creditors were taken to Muang district police for questioning. The names of the money lenders were not disclosed. They insisted they provided only legal lending services.
Police said legal action would be taken against any creditors found to be operating without appropriate licences, or charged interest rates above the legal limit.
The raids were part of the government’s crackdown on loan sharking operations that charge borrowers excessive interest rates.
Authorities also try to bring both creditors and debtors into a negotiation process.
Some creditors told officials they would return 200 land deeds to their borrowers on the condition that they sign new loan contracts and pay the legally highest interest rate.
In Amnat Charoen, a major money lender was arrested and more than 90 cars and motorcycles seized during a raid on three warehouses in Muang district on Thursday, Thai media reported.
A team of 50 police, soldiers and volunteers searched the warehouses in tambon Huay Rai and seized about 40 cars and 50 motorcycles for examination. The vehicles belong to borrowers.
Pol Lt Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapat, commander of Provincial Police Region 3, said the raids followed information that the three warehouses were used to store vehicles seized from borrowers by a major money lender.
Some borrowers had lodged complaints with police that they had been forced to mortgaged their vehicles to cover loans with interest rates of 10% per month. The money lender also charged each borrower 3,000 baht a month in parking fees.
When the complainants went to repay their debts and get their vehicles back, they found they had been sold by the creditor, Pol Lt Gen Damrongsak said.
The owner of the three warehouses, identified only as Anan, was held in police custody on charges of illegal loan sharking.
Some vehicles were found to be stolen. Investigators found several people were involved in running the loan racket, with over 50 million baht in circulation, Pol Lt Gen Damrongsak said.
