Parents in urgent need of money to pay for their children's uniforms and other necessities for the new school term are flocking to pawn shops to turn their items into cash.
Pawn shops across the country reserve extra money to prepare for the brisk business they expect around this time of the year, with the new school calendar around the corner.
Most schools will open on May 16 for the new semester, and parents short of money know where they can turn in a bid to get money to buy new uniforms and other school items for their kids.
Pawn shops operated by the Nakhon Ratchasima Municipality Office have 300 million baht of cash in stock in three branches in the city and are also offering low interest rates as a promotion to help parents.
"We have enough cash to service all customers," said Siriphan Kuanha, the manager of the second branch of the municipality-run shops.
Pawn shops administered by the state or private sectors in other provinces have also increased their cash stockpile. A municipality-owned shop in Yala city has 100 million baht in its safe.
Charoonrat Lamrassamee, the assistant manager of the Yala shop, said he expected even more visitors next week ahead of the new school year, according to the Public Relations Department.
In Nakhon Ratchasima, the storage room of the shop's second branch is packed with a variety of pawned items - small and big - from amulets in golden frames to gas cylinders, refrigerators and washing machines.
A man in Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi province drove to at least five shops on Saturday with a 40-inch TV. None would accept it, citing no space to store it among other reasons, according to media outlets.
The man eventually ended up borrowing money from a loan shark as he urgently needed 1,000 baht to help pay for tuition and other fees for his five-year-old nephew after the school demanded the payment.
"All pawn shops should post a clear message outside that they do not take TVs," he told Thai PBS.