Thai officials held a ‘Household Debt Reconciliation Fair’ in Phuket yesterday. At the event, Thailand’s Minister of Justice Somsak Thepsutin said the government has designated 2022 as the “Year of Solving Household Debt”. He said that 2,810 people had registered for the event.
Somsak said that several government departments have organised events to “facilitate the mediation process of household debts throughout the country”. He added that Phuket now has 5 People’s Dispute Mediation Centers, which aim to “help reduce the number of cases that will go to court.”
This news comes after a survey by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce says the average debt of each worker’s household in Thailand is 217,000 baht this year. This is a 14 year high for Thailand. At the end of 2021, the country’s overall household debt was 14.6 trillion baht, one of the highest in Asia, per capita.
Most service sector workers were worried about losing jobs, according to the survey. The university’s president Thanavath Phonvichai said that if costs continue to rise, consumer spending will “disappear” and it will be “very difficult for the economy to recover”.
At Phuket’s debt reconciliation fair, Somsak said that solving Thailand’s debt problem will involve tackling debts in many different aspects of people’s daily lives.
“This includes solving problems such as debts with the Student Loan Fund, with car and motorcycle hire purchase, credit card and personal loan debt, and improving the judicial process to facilitate debt resolution.”
SOURCE: The Phuket News