Dolrudee has no grounds to pass blame to others

The case of Harvard instructor of paediatric dentistry, Dr Dolruedee Jumlongras, for failure to compensate Mahidol University for breaking her scholarship conditions is unprecedented.
Forcing her guarantors to pay on her behalf is simply heartless and unbelievable. The revelation that this is the only such case in the history of Thai scholarships is even more shameful.
Her situation is unusual and unbelievable if one does not have a chance to read her explanatory note to Nation TV. No words of regret or remorse were expressed nor facts – as circulated in the press and social media – disputed.
The final straw is calling all the aggrieved guarantors as co-signers, implying that they are partly to blame for signing that agreement.
This is a wake-up call. It is questionable whether the conditions of the government scholarship programme are tantamount to slavery.
The scholar has to exclusively serve the government three times of the number of studied years. Breaking the requirement needs compensation of three times the funds spent.
Could it not be adjusted to only forced employment with the government of the number of years of study leave with the option of repaying the money spent plus interest at the market rate?
Serving in the private sector should help them to pay back the loans.
Dolrudee is correct in maintaining that the present terms are unfair. However, she signed that contract with open eyes and agreed to the terms from the beginning. She has no grounds to pass the blame and burden to others who unwittingly supported her to advance her expertise.
Songdej Praditsmanont
Bangkok