Bangkok: The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank) has announced two urgent measures to assist customers affected by the recent unrest on the Thai-Cambodian border. These measures include payment suspensions and enhanced liquidity options aimed at supporting SMEs through a loan guarantee project with a total credit line of 5,000 million baht. The initiative seeks to alleviate financial burdens and aid business recovery.
According to Thai News Agency, the Small Industry Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) has responded to the border unrest by introducing urgent measures to support SME entrepreneurs, debtors, and TCG clients impacted by the crisis. The measures are designed to help businesses survive and continue operations, divided into two key groups.
The first group focuses on assisting existing SME Bank debtors and customers in affected provinces. This includes extending the payment of guarantee and management fees, with a suspension period of 6 months from the original due date for payments due by August 31, 2025. Additionally, SME debtors with restructured payment plans are offered a 3-month suspension on installment payments, provided they are not in default. Registration for these measures is available through the LINE OA TCG First: @tcgfirst channel until the end of August 2025.
The second set of measures enhances liquidity through the PGS11 'SME Sustainable Credit Guarantee Project,' which comprises two main initiatives: the SME Power Trade and Biz Credit Guarantee Project, and the SME Micro Biz Credit Guarantee Project. The former offers a guarantee limit of 3 billion baht, with case-specific limits ranging from 500,000 to 10 million baht, targeting SMEs affected by the border incident. The latter provides a 2 billion baht guarantee limit with case-specific limits from 10,000 to 500,000 baht, catering to micro SMEs lacking collateral. Both projects offer a 3-year exemption from guarantee fees and a low subsequent annual fee of 1.5%, with a maximum guarantee period of 7 years.
TCG is also actively monitoring the situation and its impacts, with district offices assigned to communicate these assistance measures to affected customers and debtors. This initiative aims to ensure that businesses receive the support they need during this challenging period.