Microfinance Country Information
Thailand

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Resource Links:

• BAAC experience with joint-liability lending
• The Sher Game
• The Credit Union League of Thailand (CULT)
• List of NGOs in Thailand
  
• The Government Housing Bank
  
• Commercial Banks:
  • Siam Commercial Bank

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Statistics on Informal/Traditional Credit Markets

• ICM References for Thailand

Shares of Formal and Informal Credit in the Rural Sector (1972/73):
Formal Sources: 47.5 %
Informal Sources: 52.5 %

Money Lenders (8.0 %); Semi-professional Money Lenders (42.5%); Friends and Relatives (45.1%); Others (4.4 %)

Source: Bank of Thailand, Task Force on Agriculture Development.

52% of loans to the agricultural sector are from informal markets. 16.7% of outstanding total deposits amd 20.5% of total loans were with the informal sector. Informal money lenders covered 52% of farmers' credit needs.

Source:

Germidis et al. (1991)

Share of Credit by Types of Informal lenders
(Nakon Ratchasima province, Thailand, 1984-85, 52 villages)

                                                        Share in no.   Share of
                                                        of contracts   Loan Amt. 
                                                        (per cent)     (per cent)

Farmers whitin the borrowers village....................  32.4           28.6
Farmers outside the borrowers village...................   4.3            5.3
Traders within the borrowers village....................  15.3           12.3
Traders outside the borrowers village...................  23.5           20.8 
Fixed-income recepients within the borrowers village....  12.0           16.0
Fixed-income recepients outside the borrowers village...   2.3            1.6
Rentier.................................................   2.1            2.8
Finance partnerships....................................   1.4            1.5

Source:

Thailand Development Research Institute/Thai Khadi Research Institute Survey, cited by Siamwalla, Ammar, "Thai Rural Credit System: Some Empirical Findings and a Theoritical Framework" Mimeo, 1987

Share of Rural Informal Credit in Thailand
(per cent)

     1. Proportion of Households/
        adult individuals who
        borrowed from: 
   
        - either/both sectors                        33
        - formal sector                             n.a.
        - informal sector                           n.a.

     2. Proportion of borrowing
        households/adult individuals
        who borrowed from: 
   
        - formal sector                             20
        - informal sector                           74
        - both sectors                               6

     3. Proportion of borrowings
        from:

        - informal sector                            45
        - formal sector                             48

     4. Proportion of outstanding
        household debt owed to
        informal sector                             44.2

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Source:

Ghate, 1990

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Hari Srinivas - hsrinivas@gdrc.org
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