A man crashed his pickup truck into an informal lender in Nonthaburi, to whom his wife was indebted, killing him instantly, after the lender refused to give his ailing wife more time to pay.
The incident took place on Friday in Prachaniwet Soi 3, a short distance from the borrower’s fruit store.
The debtor, only identified as “Siriya”, reportedly told Nonthaburi police that she borrowed about 13,000 baht in cash from the lender, identified as “Sumet”, and was obliged to repay 700 baht per day, which she had already done for 90 straight days, amounting to 63,000 baht.
She called Sumet on Friday, asking for a temporary postponement of the daily repayments, because she needs the money for an operation to remove a cyst from her chest. Sumet rejected her plea and arrived at her fruit store to chastise her, prompting her to call her husband.
Her husband soon also arrived at the store in his pickup truck and Siriya said she heard a collision. Sumet was found crushed between the vehicle and a utility pole, along with his motorcycle.
Police are now looking for Siriya’s husband.
The incident occurred shortly after the government launched a program to tackle informal indebtedness, by urging borrowers to report to officials at district offices throughout the country, so the government can step in to resolve the problem.
More than 80,000 informal debtors have already applied for state help.
