Customers queue to pay for groceries at a supermarket in Bangkok on Saturday. Thai households are among the most indebted in Asia, and the official figures understate the problem due to the large sums also owed to loan sharks — estimated at as much as US$74 billion. When the army seized power May 22, it justified the coup partly by the need to fix an economy driven to the brink of recession by seven months of political turmoil. But the growing debt problem leaves the central bank little scope to cut rates to support growth, while exports remain sluggish. SD-Agencies