Loan sharks attack home of debtor over failed payments
Play
Two men injured in apparent aggressive reaction to two missed instalments
Bang Khen police in Bangkok were searching for a group of men, thought to be working for loan sharks, who attacked a borrower’s home in Sai Mai district late on Thursday and wounded two people in the process for failure to repay a high-interest loan.
The group was led by a man known as “Keng” from the neighbouring precinct of Sai Mai, said Bang Khen police chief Pol Colonel Chayut Marayart.
He said evidence was being gathered to secure arrest warrants for the attackers, whose vicious attack was caught on surveillance cameras, broadcast on television and distributed via social-media sites.
Two men living in the house were knifed and beaten by the attackers – all armed with machetes and metal pipes and seen arriving in a pickup truck.
A home-made bomb was thrown into the house before they raided the compound and smashed belongings, including three motorcycles. The men then fled.
The unnamed borrower, a dessert vendor, said she took out a Bt20,000 loan with an agreement to pay back Bt24,000 at Bt1,000 per day for 24 days. The loan included the illegally high interest of Bt4,000. However, she missed payments for two days after she needed money for the treatment of her sick mother.
The borrower said a text message was sent to her mobile phone from a loan-shark member saying “Do you dare me?” about one hour before the attack.
The two victims were the borrower’s husband and an adult relative, who are among five residents living at the borrower’s residence.
Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri said he had ordered the Department of Special Investigation and the Anti-Money-Laundering Office to start taking action through a parallel investigation with Bang Khen police.
The Rights and Liberties Protection Department said yesterday that it would also help the borrower’s family with the case.
