BANGKOK, 28th November 2018 (NNT) – The Government Savings Bank (GSB) has set up a committee to look into complaints from participants in the “Trishaws for the Needy” program who say they are being wrongly accused of not paying off the loans on their trishaws.

Secretary-General of the Foundation for Consumers (FFC) Saree Ongsomwang has accompanied participants in the Trishaws for the Needy program to meet with executives of GSB and seek justice. They say that when signing on to the loan program to purchase trishaws at GSB branches in Yaowarat and Siam Paragon, bank employees intentionally concealed details of their agreements and proceeded to withhold pertinent documents as well as their payments from the bank. It was alleged that instead, the bank workers forwarded the money to Chakphet Cooperative, an organization unaffiliated with the program. The alleged victims have been saddled with debts of between 600,000 and 800,000 baht, despite using their loans to purchase trishaws worth only 200,000 baht.

The bank has agreed to take action in three areas; to delay suits against those yet to see legal action, to ask that ongoing cases be temporarily suspended and for finalized cases to have enforcement put on hold. It has asked that 45 days be allotted to its probe committee while assuring customera that the program was conducted according to regulations.

About 384 people took out loans under the program from the two bank branches involved. They have agreed to return to the GSB to seek further clarification on January 15, 2019.


National News Bureau Of Thailand | Participants in Trishaws for the Needy program accused of failure to pay debts