Charity Helps Disabled Man Trapped in Loan Fraud Scheme

On July 13, Thanawat Narerirram, chairman of the Buriram Community Volunteer Assistance Association, visited Luean Uraiphan, 64, who has been bedridden for over three years, and his wife Sompornwon Uraiphan, 64, in Bukrasang Pattana village, Koklek subdistrict, Huayracha district. The couple had taken out three loans totaling 280,000 baht from a local moneylender starting in 2555, which they fully repaid by 2558. However, the creditor refused to return or tear up the original contract and instead filed a lawsuit claiming the debt remained unpaid. Faced with legal threats and lacking funds for a lawyer, Sompornwon reluctantly signed a settlement agreement requiring monthly installments of 3,000 baht over 20 months. After just seven months, the creditor obtained a court order seizing over five rai of farmland. The stress caused her husband to suffer a severe breakdown, leaving him bedridden for more than three years. The latest enforcement order threatens to seize their home and remaining land. Sompornwon explained that she had marked the copy contract with a date to confirm when payments were complete, but the creditor kept the original and weaponized it against her. She was unfamiliar with legal procedures and had no means to hire an attorney, so she handled the case alone out of fear of prosecution. Thanawat stated that after receiving complaints from villagers, his organization investigated and discovered the pattern of injustice. He confirmed that Sompornwon had borrowed 280,000 baht in three installments starting in 2555, with the creditor charging interest for two years. She then borrowed 300,000 baht from another lender in 2558 to repay the first creditor and retrieve her mortgaged farmland. Although she paid the first creditor in cash, he never canceled the loan contracts. Sompornwon believed the debt was settled, but in 2563 the original creditor brought the three loan documents back to court to pursue further legal action.