Major concessions for loan-defaulting students

Fund manager Chainarong Kajchapanan said the SLF had changed the conditions of its contracts to help students who had borrowed money to pay for their studies but then defaulted and been sued.
Those facing lawsuits this year and had signed court settlement contracts with SLF would be entitled to the 75 per cent reduction of their fines as of the settlement signatory date, he said. One condition, however, was that the debtors must not again fall behind on any monthly instalments – if they did the deducted penalty fee would be revived and merged into the original debt amounts, he said. The SLF also would give the debtors a chance to repay the outstanding loan amounts for up to 15 years starting from the settlement signatory date.
The repayment periods would vary based on the total amount of each individual's original debt, accumulated interest and penalty fees, as follows:
- A total debt under Bt250,000 can be repaid within nine years;
- A total of Bt250,000-Bt400,000 can be repaid within 12 years;
- A total over Bt400,000 can be repaid within 15 years.