L1 - L16
Volume 12, Issue 19
16 - 30 June 2013
30 BAHT
Russians face mounting debts
T
here is growing evidence that the two million Russians who visit Thailand annually are not always the rich guys and gals of popular myth. “We are now seeing evidence that Russian loan-sharks are charging their fellow-countrymen extortionate rates of interest to make emergency cash handouts,” says Police Region Two Commissioner Winai Tongsong. Earlier this month, Russian national Ayrat Khabiryanov was arrested after advertizing an unauthorized loan service posted in the Russian language outside his home. He and his associates had allegedly kept passports as collateral and were charging interest of two percent daily. Nearly 300 Russians were said to have used the illegal service and local police are still sifting through a mound of complaints made by disenchanted Moscow and Vladivostock-based visitors. Additionally, a growing number of Russians in the resort are regularly arrested for attempted stealing, especially from malls and beachfront stores. “We are seeing a lot of evidence of hopeless naivety,” a senior security officer told Pattaya Today. “Some Russian customers who try to steal seem unaware of the existence of security cameras and other in-house precautions.” By contrast, wealthy Russians have invested heavily in the Pattaya property market, notably condominiums, and are now considered indispensable for continued Continued on page 4
Russian Ayrat Khabiryanov (seated right) arrested as accused loan shark