Thai banker shoots himself over debts

Thai banker shoots himself over debts

BANGKOK (AP): A manager at a state-run Thai bank shot himself dead because of his mounting personal debts, police said on Wednesday.

Sawang Polcharas, 38, a credit manager at the Bank of Agriculture and Cooperatives, was found dead in his office restroom with a gunshot wound in his head, police said. The office was in the southern province of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, 590 kilometers south of Bangkok.

Police said they believed Sawang committed suicide because he owed half a million baht (US$12,500) to the bank and was unable to repay it.

More than a hundred Thais have committed suicide since the economic crisis erupted in Thailand a year ago. Increased stress, lost jobs and unsolvable financial problems have contributed to the suicides.