Calls were also made by social media users to change the terms and criteria for considering applicants for the government scholarships. They said the guarantors should be members of the recipients' immediate family so debt collection in case of a default would be easier. The issue has attracted a great deal of attention on social media.

The caption on this photo from the Olsen Symposium of 2011 reads: From left: Dr Bjorn R Olsen, Dr Porsche Jumlongras and Dr Reidunn Edlemann. (Photo from Facebook)

On his Facebook page, Dr Padet said Dr D now works as a researcher at Harvard University and lives in a smart apartment. "I have four kids of my own to take care of. But I'm now having to pay off her debt," he said. "She obviously had it all planned," he added.

Angry Thais have been bombarding the Harvard Facebook page with comments like these.

Dr Padet told a television talk programme on Channel 3 he did not know Dr D personally but decided to co-sign as a guarantor because he believed the scholarship would help produce precious manpower for Mahidol.

The 30 million baht is the equivalent of US$840,000 at current exchange rates. Mahidol University vice-president Banchong Mahaisavariya has confirmed the story which went viral online about a former Mahidol dentistry instructor who defaulted on a large debt obligation from a scholarship she took in 1993. The news was widely shared online, with a message posted by a dentist named Padet Poolwithayakit describing how he and three teaching staff at the university now had to pay out of their own pockets to settle the scholarship fund that has not been repaid by the dentist identified as "Dr D". The four acted as guarantors of the scholarship which financed Dr D's master's degree and PhD studies at Harvard over 10 years from 1993. After she completed her PhD, she did not return to teach at the university, contrary to the condition of the scholarship. Dr D is now a researcher working at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. The Comptroller-General's Department pressed the university to recoup the money from Dr D. Mahidol had tried in vain to contact her and was required by law to turn to the guarantors. Dr Banchong said the university had done its best to bring Dr D to account. However, she has since married and settled down in the US and is a naturalised US citizen. This puts her beyond the reach of Thai law, Dr Banchong said. Normally, scholarship recipients must return upon the completion of their studies to teach at the university if they cannot repay the scholarship money. If they fail to fulfill such an obligation, they must pay back three times the amount of the scholarship granted. In Dr D's case, this is 30 million baht. He said the university has helped the guarantors by securing court permission to reduce the debt by two-thirds, to about 2.5 million baht each, or 10 million baht in total. Dr Banchong added the university has arranged interest-free loans for the guarantors to cover the debt.

Mahidol University has insisted it has done all it can to recover a 30-million-baht debt left by a former dentistry lecturer who refused to repay a scholarship and who now works at Harvard in the United States. The university's claim followed widespread social media posts accusing Harvard – widely considered one of the world's top universities – of harbouring the former Mahidol lecturer who allegedly breached her state scholarship contract and left huge debts to her colleagues and lecturers who were her guarantors.

Bangkok Post writer Damrongkiat Mala says "Dr D", now identified as Dolrudee Jumlongras, who defaulted on a 30-million-baht scholarship loan, has been in contact with the Bangkok Post. Responding to the allegations, Dr Dolrudee who works at Harvard Univsity in the United States, 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. 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. Yesterday, in a report from our online reporters, Aporn Kanvong, the secretary-general of the Office of the Higher Education Commission was quoted as saying the terms of state scholarships have already been changed as a result of the massive default. Guarantors will now have to be family members, he said. This, critics have pointed out, will disadvantage students whose family is not wealthy. There are also reports that many potential guarantors have stated they will not provide funds in the future.

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The former dentistry lecturer who refused to repay a 30-million-baht scholarship debt, leaving it to her guarantors, has told the Bangkok Post via email she will explain.

"Dr D" is hiding in plain sight behind these ivy-covered stonewalls in Massachusetts, with US nationality, and 30 million baht in student debts her "friends" and colleagues now must pay. In the latest development, she has told the Bangkok Post via email that she wants to explain. (Photo courtesy Harvard University)

Vocabulary:

accuse : to say that someone has done something wrong or committed a crime - กล่าวหา

allegedly (adv): stated without giving complete proof - ที่ถูกกล่าวหา, นัยว่า

applicant : someone who applies for something, such as a job or a loan of money - ผู้สมัคร,ผู้แจ้งความจำนง,ผู้ขอ

attract attention : to cause people to notice someone or something -

breached (verb): failed to do what is required by an official agreement - ทำผิดสัญญา

bring to account : to cause to take responsibility and to punish, if necessary -

caption : a short piece of text under a picture in a book, magazine or newspaper which describes the picture or explains what the people in it are doing or saying - คำบรรยายใต้ภาพ

citizen : someone who has the right to live permanently in a particular country - พลเมือง

claim (noun): saying that something is true although it has not been proved and other people may not believe it - ข้ออ้าง ข้อกล่าวหา

colleague (noun): someone who works in the same organisation or department as you do or someone you know who has the same type of job - เพื่อนร่วมงาน

commission : an official group of people who have been given responsibility to control something, or to find out about something, usually for the government - คณะกรรมการ, คณะกรรมาธิการ

completion (noun): finishing something; bringing some project to an end after having done everything successfully - การทำเสร็จ, การทำให้สมบูรณ์

Comptroller General (noun): the director of the government's accounting office - อธิบดีกรมบัญชีกลาง

condition : something that must be done before another thing can happen - เงื่อนไข

confirm (verb): to state or show that something is definitely true or correct, especially by providing evidence - ยืนยัน

considered (verb): regarded as; thought of as - ถือว่า

contact : to communicate with someone - ติดต่อ

contract : an official written agreement - สัญญา

contrary : completely different or opposed to something else - ตรงข้าม

criteria : a standard that is used for judging something or for making a decision about something - บรรทัดฐาน

critic : someone who gives their opinion about something - นักวิจารณ์

current : of the present time - ปัจจุบัน

debt (noun): an amount of money that you owe - หนี้, นี้สิน

default : to fail to repay a debt - ไม่ยอมชำระหนี้

dentist (noun): a person whose job is to take care of people’s teeth - ทันตแพทย์,หมอฟัน

dentistry (noun): the medical study of the teeth and mouth; the work of a dentist - ทันตกรรม, งานของหมอฟัน

details : small facts or pieces of information relating to a situation - รายละเอียด

disadvantage (verb): o cause problems and tend to stop somebody/something from succeeding or making progress - ทำให้เสียเปรียบ

equivalent : the same as; equal to - เท่าเทียมกันกับ

exchange rate : when you change one currency or money into another currency, how much you get - อัตราการแลกเปลี่ยนเงินตราระหว่างประเทศ

finance : to provide money for something - จัดหาเงินทุนให้

fulfill (verb): to do or have what is required or necessary - ปฏิบัติตามหน้าที่

fund : money provided for something - เงินทุน กองทุน

funds : money needed or available to spend on something - เงินทุน

grant : to officially give something - ให้

guarantor : a person who agrees to be responsible for somebody or for making sure that something happens or is done - ผู้ค้ำประกัน

harbour : to protect someone who has done something wrong - ปิดบัง,ซ่อนเร้น

hire : to pay someone to work for you - จ้าง

huge : very large - ใหญ่โต

identified (verb): named, searched for a discovered - ระบุ

immediate family : the basic family, including parents and children, but not other relatives -

in vain : without success - ไม่สำเร็จ

insist : to keep saying very firmly that something is true - ยืนกราน ยืนยัน

instructor (noun): teacher, trainer, educator - ครูผู้สอน, อาจารย์, ครู, ผู้สอน

intention : a plan in your mind to do something - ความตั้งใจ เจตนา แผนการ

interest-free (adj): (of a loan) not having to pay interest - ไม่ต้องจ่ายดอกเบี้ย

issue : a subject that people discuss or argue about - ประเด็น

key : very important - ที่สำคัญ

lawsuit : a case that a court is asked to decide involving a disagreement between two people or groups - คดีที่ยื่นฟ้องต่อศาล

lawyer : an attorney - ทนาย

lecturer (noun): a teacher at a university or college - อาจารย์ผู้บรรยาย

manpower : the supply of people who are able to work - กำลังคน

massive : very large - มหาศาล

master's degree : a further university degree that you study for after a first degree - ระดับปริญญาโท

naturalised (adj): (of somebody who was not born in a particular country) having become a citizen of that country - แปลงสัญชาติ, โอนสัญชาติ

normally : usually; in normal circumstances - โดยปกติ, ตามปกติ

obligation : something which you must do because you have promised, because of a law, etc. - สัญญาผูกมัด, ข้อผูกมัด

obviously : clearly - เห็นได้ชัด, อย่างชัดแจ้ง

permission : allowing someone to do something - การอนุญาต,การอนุมัติ,การยินยอม

personally : used for saying that you talking about yourself or are giving your own opinion - โดยส่วนตัว

PhD (noun): the abbreviation for ‘Doctor of Philosophy’ (a university degree of a very high level that is given to somebody who has done research in a particular subject); doctorate - ปริญญาเอก; คำย่อของ Doctor of Philosophy

pitch in : helped or give money to some project - ช่วยก่อให้เกิด

potential : possible in the future - ที่อาจเป็นไปได้

precious : of great value because of being rare, expensive or important - มีค่า,ล้ำค่า

press : to try in a determined way to make someone do something - ผลักดัน, บังคับ, รบเร้า, กระตุ้น

quote : to repeat the words that someone else has said or written - ยกคำพูดมา

recipients : people who receive something - ผู้รับ

recoup : to get back an amount of money that you have spent or lost - เอาคืน

recover (verb): to get something back (usually that has been lost or stolen) - ได้กลับคืนมา

reduce : to make something smaller or less in amount, size, importance etc - ลดลง

refuse (verb): to say or show that you will not do something; to say or show that you will not do something that someone has asked you to do - ปฏิเสธ

repay : to pay back the money that you have borrowed from somebody - จ่ายเงินคืน, ใช้เงินคืน

researcher : a person who carriers out a careful study of a subject, especially in order to discover new facts or information about it - นักวิจัย

scholarship (noun): money given to a student to pay for the cost of education - ทุนการศึกษา

secretary-general (noun): the person who is in charge of the department that deals with the running of a large international or political organisation - เลขาธิการ, เลขาธิการใหญ่

secure (verb): to get or achieve something - ได้มา

settle (verb): to decide or arrange something finally, especially a debt - จ่ายหนี้, ชำระเงิน, ปิดบัญชี

settle down : to start to have a quieter way of life, living in one place, often by getting married - ตั้งถิ่นฐาน

smart : looking clean and neat; well dressed in fashionable and/or formal clothes - เนี้ยบ, สะอาดและประณีต, น่ามอง, นำสมัย

social media : the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc. - เครือข่ายสังคมออนไลน์

staff : workers employed by a person or organisation considered as a group - คณะผู้ทำงาน, คนงาน

standard : a (high) level of quality - มาตรฐาน

state : government - รัฐบาล

terms : conditions; requirements - ข้อกำหนด

viral : (of a video, photo, story, etc.) spread across the internet very quickly (like a virus spreading a disease) as people share it with their friends or the news media reports on it - แพร่กระจายผ่านทางอินเทอร์เน็ตอย่างรวดเร็ว

wealthy : having a large amount of money, land, and other valuable things - ที่มั่งคั่ง ร่ำรวย

widespread : happening or existing in many places, or affecting many people - อย่างแพร่หลาย