Street talk Run by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Bangkok Pawnshop now has 20 branches spread throughout Bangkok. We meet up with Chanakarn Kosin, 44, the manager of the Klong Toey branch who tells us how the business works from behind the bars.

BK: Can you tell us more about how the pawn broker process works?
Chanakarn Kosin: First, we examine the item a customer wants to pawn and calculate the price. Customers can negotiate if they aren’t satisfied with the offered price, though. Then we make a copy of their IDs and fill out a form containing the customer and pawned items’ details. We ask for the customers’ fingerprints, then give them the pawn ticket and the loan. Each ticket is valid for four months and 30 days. If they don’t redeem the pawned items before the deadline expires, then we release them for an auction which takes place every month at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Office.

BK: What is the strangest item ever pawned here?
CK: A construction worker’s hammer and saw. He was unemployed and broke, so he had to pawn his tools to earn some money. But once he got a job, he redeemed them. 

BK: What’s fun about this job?
CK: I get to meet a variety of people from different walks of life. I get to talk with some regulars so often that we become friends.

BK: Why do you think people come here instead of going to the banks? 
CK: Customers always get an amicable atmosphere here, while they might feel tense and small in banks. We also offer free water, coffee, and candy. I don’t think banks provide this kind of intimate service. We also listen to their problems and give them advice. We make sure that our customers’ information remains completely private, though.

BK: Is the competition high in the pawnshop business?
CK: Definitely. Business people have recently been interested in opening pawnshops. Kasikorn Bank has also just opened a similar business called Thai Credit Bank. But their system is different from ours. They are new. Their customers still have to go through a lot of procedures. Our interest rate is also lower.

BK: Do you think pawnshops should get a makeover to look more inviting?
CK: Actually, the BMA is now planning to change the look of its pawnshops. They will no longer look like cells. The bars will be gone and replaced by something like the money exchange booths you see on the BTS. All this will be completed by next year for sure. Nattika Srimaneerat and Sawida Boonyatistarn