Academics stepped up calls Monday for the government to review the criteria regarding guarantors for recipients of state scholarships to deter them from defaulting on scholarship contract obligations.
Sompong Jitradap, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's faculty of education, said the government should come up with new criteria clearly specifying the guarantors must only be the parents or relatives of the scholarship recipient in order to reduce the risk of recipients breaching scholarship contracts.
His comment followed a scandal involving a former dentistry lecturer at Mahidol University who allegedly breached her state scholarship contract and left a 30-million-baht debt to her colleagues and lecturers who were her guarantors. Identified as Dolrudee Jumlongras, she now works at Harvard University in the United States.
He said some individuals irresponsibly take advantage of a career advancement opportunity that come their way to the detriment of others.
- Earlier report: Higher Education Commission says rules already changed
It is easy for them to make such a decision if the guarantors are not their parents or family members. But if they are their parents, they have to think carefully, Mr Sompong said.
Mr Sompong also said this case may encourage other students seeking state scholarships to commit similar wrongdoings. So far, the alleged scholarship contract defaulter has not yet been brought to justice.
This will also discourage other potential guarantors for seekers of state scholarships in the future, Mr Sompong noted.
"Repercussions will definitely follow. Nobody will sign as a guarantor for anyone because they've already seen this example," he said.
Mr Sompong also accused Civil Service Commission (CSC) officials, who oversee scholarship students in the US, of ignoring the problem of defaults on scholarship obligations having an adverse impact on the guarantors.
This is despite the fact that CSC officials have all the information regarding state scholarship recipients.
Mr Sompong said Harvard University should also take responsibility, saying that if Harvard wanted to keep the former dentistry lecturer, then it should "buy" her from the Thai government by repaying the scholarship money that she owes the government.
Prasart Suebkha, the rector of Suranaree University of Technology, said this case has already affected students who do not come from wealthy families as several lecturers in universities have refused to be guarantors for students who were granted scholarships.
"Some lecturers have hung signs in front of their rooms refusing to be guarantors," he said.
If the criteria involving guarantors for scholarship recipients is changed, many poor students will miss the chance to receive scholarships because the financial status of their parents who would have to be guarantors will have to be evaluated and those students will no longer be able to seek help from other guarantors, said Mr Prasart, former president of the Association of University Presidents.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who oversees the CSC, said defaulting on scholarship contract obligations occur every year.
The CSC has tried to solve the problem by forbidding bosses and teachers of scholarship recipients from becoming guarantors.
Mahidol University will today hold a press conference to clarify details of the scholarship debt case.
Meanwhile, many Thais have posted angry comments on Harvard University's Facebook page, asking it to take action to ensure fairness in this case.
"You have seen now many Thai people have come here and demanded justice for this immoral and unethical Thai Harvard-educated dentist who is now your faculty member at Harvard Dental School ... Thai people are asking for justice from you. Please show mercy Harvard," a user named Jrome D Smith posted on the university's Facebook page.
Padet Poolwithayakit, a dentist in Saraburi who was one of the guarantors for Dr Dolrudee, told Matichon Online that several Thais in the US have offered to pitch in money to hire a lawyer to file a lawsuit against Dr Dolrudee.
"I may have to accept their good intentions. They want me to set a standard," Dr Padet said.
The details of the case were widely shared online, with a message posted by Dr Padet describing how he and three teaching staff at the university now had to pay out of their own pockets to settle the scholarship debt that has not been repaid by the dentist.
The four acted as guarantors of the scholarship which financed Dr Dolrudee's master's degree and PhD studies at Harvard over 10 years from 1993.
Responding to the allegations, Dr Dolrudee told the Bangkok Post via email she would like to give more details on the issue but she needs to talk to a few key people first to get their permission to discuss them.