May 17, 2005
BURI RAM, Thailand (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Tuesday he worried that Thais may be accumulating too much personal debt and turning to loan sharks, according to a government spokesman.
"Prime Minister Thaksin expressed his concern that at the moment there are many Thais who have more than 10 credit cards," spokesman Chalermdej Jombunud told reporters.
Because of "fierce campaigns to offer credit lines that could lead to an overload of debt, they could turn to loan sharks," the spokesman added.
Thaksin gave the example of one credit card holder getting a 300,000 baht credit line (7,500 dollars), allowing the holder to spend 3.0 million baht if they had 10 credit cards, the spokesman said.
Chalermdej said Thaksin has assigned Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and Bank of Thailand Governor Pridiyathorn Devakula to examine the issue.
"Thaksin expressed his concern because he wants to block low-income earners from having too many credit cards by coordinating (information on) a card holder's background among credit card issuers," Somkid told reporters.
The Bank of Thailand said at the end of the first quarter of 2005 there were 8.9 million credit cards issued by Thai commercial banks, foreign banks and non-bank lenders.
The central bank in July 2004 raised the minimum income level needed to get a credit card to 15,000 baht a month from 8,000 baht for bank lenders. Non-bank lenders do not require a minimum income level.
Thaksin was chairing Tuesday a weekly meeting of the Thai cabinet, held in the northeastern province of Buri Ram.