More than 10bn baht (US$242m) in government loans could be at risk following the purge of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt in Rangoon. Thanks to the cosy relationship between the Thaksin government and Burma's military junta, the Export-Import Bank [Exim Bank] of Thailand raised its lending exposure in the neighbouring country to a staggering 10bn baht in recent years.
It is now feared the loans may sour if a military coup were to take place as a result of the junta's removal of Khin Nyunt on 20 October.
An apparently alarmed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday said he had ordered the Exim Bank to take a close look at its loan exposure to Burma. "If there is something bad, it has to stop the lending. This is quite normal. As a lending country, we have to be assured that the borrower uses the money for constructive purposes. If not, we have to stop the lending," he said.
