Money for Nothing, Your Crisis for Free?: A Comparative Analysis of Consumer Credit Policies for Post-1997 South Korea and Thailand

Both the South Korean and Thai governments encouraged consumer credit card usage to boost consumer spending and reinvigorate the national economy following the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Today, almost a decade following the crisis, the authors provide a comparative analysis of how policymakers in both South Korea and Thailand have attempted to regulate the rapid upsurge in consumer credit card debt in their respective economies. This Article also notes some of the benefits and risks of the approaches taken by the South Korean and Thai governments, using as focal points the South Korean government’s Individual Debtor Rehabilitation Act, a personal debt relief program introduced by the Thai Ministry of Finance in 2005, and a series of Bank of Thailand credit card regulations.