Patong Municipality pawnshop set to open

PATONG: The Patong Municipality is set to open its new pawnshop on Ratpatanusorn Rd on May 1 – Labor Day – as part of a nationwide initiative by the Ministry of Interior to give people access to low-cost financing through their municipalities. Sakorn Cheua-yuan, Deputy Mayor of Patong, said, “This is a good chance for people living in Patong to borrow government money at low interest rates. Patong Municipality will use the profits to develop and maintain the Patong area,” he added. “It’s a good time to open the shop because parents will be able to use the service to cover costs for the school term starting in May,” K. Sakorn added. The interest rate will be 0.75% a month on loans of 500 baht or less. For loans of 501 baht up to 3,000 baht, the interest will be 1% per month, while loans of 3,001 to 30,000 baht will cost borrowers 2% a month. This is a significant discount on rates charged in the black market – often the only way borrowers of small amounts can get access to funds – which are about 20% a month. The three-story pawnshop building, set on 544 square meters of land, was built by the Municipality for 4.5 million baht. In addition, the Ministry of Interior and Patong Municipality have each allocated two million baht for lending purposes. Apai Jantanajualakah, Director General of the Department of Local Administration, will chair the opening ceremony, which will include a traditional blessing of the building by Buddhist monks. The ceremony will start at 10 am. The pawnshop will be open Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.