Mahidol, Ohec planning suit to declare Dolrudee bankrupt

Mahidol, Ohec planning suit to declare Dolrudee bankrupt

Mahidol University vice-president Banchong Mahaisavariya speaks about Dolrudee Jumlongras, who allegedly breached her state scholarship contract. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)
Mahidol University vice-president Banchong Mahaisavariya speaks about Dolrudee Jumlongras, who allegedly breached her state scholarship contract. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)

Mahidol University and the Office of the Higher Education Commission (Ohec) are planning to file a lawsuit to have its former dentistry lecturer, Dolrudee Jumlongras, declared bankrupt, in order to help collect her scholarship debt.

Banchong Mahaisavariya, vice-president of Mahidol University, said at a press conference Tuesday that he is discussing with Ohec about using legal means to force her into bankruptcy before the 10-year statute of limitations expires on Feb 14 this year.

Dr Dolrudee is now a US citizen having married and settled down in the US. This puts her beyond the reach of Thai law, Dr Banchong said.

"Under Thai law, if Dr Dolrudee is not bankrupt, we are unable to take legal action, seize her property or even ask the Immigration Office to help screen for her at airports in case she returns to Thailand. All we can do is file a civil lawsuit and follow legal procedures," he said.

Dr Dolrudee, who allegedly breached her state scholarship contract and left a 30-million-baht debt with her guarantors, currently works at Harvard University.

Dr Dolrudee's four guarantors for her Master's degree and PhD at Harvard over a period of 10 years from 1993 have already cleared a 10-million-baht debt negotiated with the Comptroller-General's Department. Dr Banchong said that Dr Dolrudee remains fully responsible for the entire scholarship debt of 30 million baht. 

Dr Dolrudee is reportedly a naturalised US citizen, married, and can't be touched directly by Thai civil law. (Photos from social media)

Normally, scholarship recipients must return to the country following the completion of their studies to teach at their university for double the time they spent at their university overseas. If they fail to fulfil this obligation, they must pay back three times the amount of the scholarship.

Although Dr Dolrudee's case is worth 30 million baht, Ohec and Mahidol University helped the guarantors by securing court permission to reduce the debt by two-thirds.

"Dr Dolrudee cannot zigzag or avoid her karma by just paying 10 million back to her guarantors. She must pay back the full amount of the scholarship," Dr Banchong said.

Passiri Nisalak, Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry at Mahidol University, insisted the institution has done all it can to reclaim the 30-million-baht debt and bring Dr Dolrudee to account.

Asked why the Faculty of Dentistry approved Dr Dolrudee's resignation back in 2004 when she had not yet repaid her scholarship, Dr Passiri explained that according to the Civil Service Act, BE 2551, the faculty cannot stop staff resigning because they breached a scholarship contract.

"The university and the faculty have sent many collection letters to Dr Dolrudee both in Thailand and in the US, but she replied that she was not yet ready to make payments. She also complained about the unfair criteria of the scholarship," Dr Passiri said.

"We also wrote to Harvard asking them to investigate the issue and consider appropriate action, but they just replied that they are treating this case as a private matter," he added.

"I was recently told by one guarantor that Dr Dolrudee contacted him a few days ago. She asked him if there was anything she can do to help, so he told her to transfer the money back to all guarantors, but she said she still cannot pay the debt at this time," Dr Passiri noted.

Dr Passiri revealed that Mahidol University once offered assistance to Dr Dolrudee by providing her a special lecturer position to teach students via video conferencing, allowing her to continue her research work in the US but fulfilling her responsibilities without the need to return to Thailand. However, the proposal was rejected by the Office of the Civil Service Commission.

"I think we should learn from this case and create more efficient scholarship terms and criteria to reduce the risk of recipients breaching scholarship contracts. It's time for everyone to brainstorm," he said.

This case went viral after Padet Poolwithayakit described on his Facebook how he and three teaching staff at Mahidol University had to pay out of their own pockets to settle Dr Dolrudee's unpaid scholarship debt.

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