This study shows how different forms of individual social capital affect access to formal credit in rural Thailand. In the context of agriculture economics, an innovative data collection approach is used that originates from the field of sociology (personal network survey). We measure social capital according to: 1. the tie strength between the respondent and the personal network member (bonding/bridging); and 2. the social distance between the respondent and the personal network member (linking). Strong ties (bonding) in combination with access to socially distant network members (linking) reduce the chances of being access-constrained.