Loan Sharks Harass Elderly Over Relatives' Debts in Nakhon Ratchasima
Daily-rate loan sharks are harassing elderly residents in Phimai, Nakhon Ratchasima, demanding payment for debts run up by family members who have disappeared, leaving pensioners unable to pay and fearful of threats.
Residents of Phimai, Nakhon Ratchasima, are at their breaking point as daily-rate loan sharks intimidate and threaten elderly residents to collect debts run up by family members who have disappeared, leaving the elderly to bear the burden despite having no income.
On July 23, 2025, a social media account posted secret video footage showing daily-rate loan collectors repeatedly circulating through a home to try to collect interest payments from residents in the Phimai Municipal Subdistrict, Phimai District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. This has pushed residents to their limits as they face harassment and intimidation from the ruthless lending gangs. Some have closed their homes and fled; others have hidden away, abandoning elderly family members at home to face the gangs' verbal abuse and threats in their place. The elderly are unsure where to turn, as these groups have no fear of the law. The situation has become a family crisis, with some resorting to stealing and selling household items, and others mortgaging homes and vehicles to raise money for daily debts.
Residents are now appealing to authorities to take strict legal action, saying they have lost all patience. Phimai should be a tourist destination, but instead it is plagued by gangsters and predatory daily-rate lenders who operate freely throughout the town, intimidating and threatening residents without any fear of legal consequences.
An elderly resident in the area explained that the loan collectors come to demand payment from him almost every day because his grandson borrowed money. The grandfather was unaware of the loan initially, and his grandson has since moved away for work, but the collectors cannot reach him and have turned to demanding repayment from the elderly man instead. He said, "We don't know where to find the money to repay them. We only have a meager elderly pension and state welfare card—a few hundred baht a month—but the loan gangs still track us down, curse us, and threaten to beat us and cause us harm. We are at a loss."
