BANGKOK, 24 June 2015 – A group of women activists has called on the National Legislative Assembly to help many troubled debtors across the country.
The Chairwoman of the NLA’s subcommittee on women’s affairs Suwannee Sirivejchapun, on Tuesday accepted a letter from the Network of Poo-Ying Plod-Nee Mee-Suk, which translates as “happy, debt-free women”, and the Supa Wongsaena Foundation for Debtors Rights Reform.
In the letter, both groups asked the NLA to push for more action by state agencies that are able to intervene in correcting any injustice faced by debtors, while protecting their rights.
The groups said that there remain a number of people who borrowed funds but became deeply indebted after various setbacks, such as problems caused by the 1997 Economic Crisis, unfair interest rates charged by private lenders and the demands of the informal loans system.
They said that these circumstances have forced many borrowers to pay more interest than the law allows.
Ms. Suwannee agreed to accept the petition and to pass it on to the relevant committees, while noting that both groups may be called on to provide more information about these problems.
