Thai bank releases bizarre ‘apology’ for repossessing the wrong house

UPDATE

After the story hit the media, Thailand’s Government Savings Bank (GSB) released a statement apologising for repossessing and renovating the wrong house in Pathum Thani province, central Thailand, one month ago. The bank admits “full responsibility.”

However, the apology has been met with disapproval from netizens (gaining 4 thousand angry reactions on Facebook) because it was accompanied by a bizarre set of ‘before and after’ shots.

The photos suggest that the bank did the homeowner a favour by stripping her house clean and destroying her belongings, which included sentimental items such as family photos and children’s toys.

The statement did not address the woman’s claims that someone stayed in her house for three days following the possession and used her electricity and water.

GSB’s statement reads…

“Regarding the news that GSB bank repossessed and renovated the wrong house in Pathum Thani province, GSB would like to clarify the facts as follows.

GSB had permission to repossess and sell house number 99/44 in Wanasiri Park Ville village in Lat Lum Kaew subdistrict, Mueang district, Pathum Thani province – valued at 1.6 million baht.

We hired bailiffs from outside the company (outsourced) to undertake the repossession to strip the house clean and renovate it to be in a good condition ready to put it on the market for sale.

The bailiffs surveyed the area but identified the wrong house. It happened because both the actual property and the property we repossessed were not numbered and the houses looked very similar, so they ended up repossessing and renovating the wrong property.

Before entering and renovating the house ready for sale, the bailiffs took out the homeowner’s belongings and gave them to the bank. After we discovered we got the wrong house, we continuously tried to contact the homeowner.

We met with the homeowner on September 20, 2022, when the bank apologised for our mistake. We delivered 20 items back to the homeowner such as CDs, a bed frame, books, and Buddhist amulets.

We offered to pay back the estimated 2.2 million baht in damages for all the things we cannot return.

We will meet with the homeowner again on October 4, 2022, to discuss a possible lawsuit and to further calculate the cost of the total damages.

We would like to confirm that we are fully responsible for repossessing the wrong house and apologise for the mistake in this instance. If there are further advances in the case we will update again.”

ORIGINAL STORY

A woman from Pathum Thani, just north of Bangkok, couldn’t believe her eyes when she returned home to her locks changed, all her belongings seized, and a ‘for sale’ sign outside her house.

Thailand’s “Government Savings Bank” (the pink one) sent bailiffs to repossess a house in Wanasiri Park View Village on September 5. The bailiffs changed all the locks and seized everything – even going as far as cutting down trees and removing the house’s awnings.

To add insult to injury, the homeowner – Kanchana – later found out that a “worker” (possibly one of the bailiffs?) had been sleeping in her seized house and using her electricity and water for “three or four days.”

The bailiffs put up signs saying, “for sale,” “do not trespass” and “property of the bank.” The sign stated that house number 99/44 belonged to the bank, but the sign was placed outside house number 99/38. Confused, a neighbour rang Kanchana on September 15 and asked her what was going on.

Kanchana, who was staying elsewhere at the time, was gobsmacked when she arrived at her house. Kanchana said she has never been in debt or been sued in her life. She rang the bank straight away, whose customer service team told her that the bank would contact her back within three business days.

The next day, Kanchana filed a complaint at Lam Lum Kaeo Police Station, where officers helped her to urgently contact the bank’s legal team.

On September 18, a legal representative from the bank called Kanchana to apologise for wrongly repossessing her house. The bank invited Kanchana to discuss the matter further on September 20 at the police station.

The bank estimated the total damages to amount to around 2 million baht. The bank said several things had already been destroyed, including clothes, books, family photos, collectables, items belonging to Kanchana’s children, and other things with sentimental value.

Kanchana said she is still waiting to hear exactly how the bank plans on compensating her. It has been almost a month since the repossession, and still, no word from the bank said Kanchana.
Whoever is responsible for the repossession may face criminal charges relating to trespassing, burglary and causing loss of property.

Government Savings Bank said they will make a public statement on the matter tomorrow, October 4, at 2pm.

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