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.