Debtor Protection Problems under the Debt Collection Act 2015

Abstract

This research aims to study the concept of Thai and foreign laws about the protection of debtors from unfair debt collection. This will be used to analyze debtor protection issues under the Debt Collection Act 2015 and to provide appropriate guidance for the protection of debtors from unfair debt collection. The qualitative research method consisting of the study of documents, law comparison process and in-depth interviews was used. The research found that although the Debt Collection Act 2015 has come into force in Thailand, it protects only individual debtors but not legal entities. This is unlike the Australian and the Norwegian laws, which protect all types of debtors. It was also found that criminal penalties specifically for illegal debt collectors are carried under the Act, but there are no direct civil penalties like the US law. Therefore, if there is a civil damage, be it to reputation or to property, one must rely on the Civil and Commercial Code for enforcement only. In order for all types of debtors to be protected from unlawful debt collection, the Debt Collection Act 2015 should be amended to include corporate debtors as well as add civil damages for illegal debt collection law.