New loans to Thailand’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have contracted for 16 consecutive quarters, highlighting a widening credit access gap as many firms continue to rely on informal lenders, according to data from the Bank of Thailand (BOT).

Credit Access Snapshot

• Only 30% of SMEs have received credit from financial institutions, the central bank said.
• 40% of SMEs borrow from both financial institutions and loan sharks.
• About 20% to 23% of SMEs need funding from loan sharks.
• About 1 in 5 SMEs still need funding from loan sharks.

Asset Quality Concerns

“Therefore, we see the problem and concern regarding the deterioration in asset quality in the SME segment due to the liquidity problem,” said Thanawat Thangchadakorn, analyst for UOBKH, in a sector report published on 22 September 2026.

Thangchadakorn expects the BOT and other government organisations to tackle and solve the liquidity problem to prevent the deterioration of SME loans.

Rising NPLs

The governor of BOT had expressed concerns regarding debt of the SME segment, according to UOBKH. Non-performing loans (NPLs) rose by THB104b, of which new THB52b were new NPLs and THB52b are re-entering NPLs.

Policy Response

The BOT has launched programmes, including the THB20b SME Credit Boost programme, which compensates banks when a loan becomes an NPL by paying 15% to 30% with a protection period of seven years.