Dentist faces bankruptcy suit over debt default

MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY will file a personal bankruptcy lawsuit against a former lecturer of its dentistry school in order to seek reimbursement of more than Bt30 million owed by the lecturer who violated the terms of her scholarship and now works at Harvard University in the US.
The controversial case has also prompted the Dentistry Council of Thailand to consider revoking Dr Dolrudee Jumlongras’s licence to practise in the country.
Meanwhile, dentist Padet Pulwittayakij, one of the four guarantors who had to pay Bt2 million on behalf of Dr Dolrudee to settle her breach of scholarship conditions, plans to sue the former Mahidol lecturer as a number of Thais in the US have offered to donate money for the legal action.
Mahidol University deputy rector Prof Dr Banjong Mahai-viriya said yesterday that the university was consulting with the Office of Higher Education Commission (OHEC) to file a personal bankruptcy suit against the former dentistry lecturer before the statute of limitation in the case expires on February 14. “The decision to sue her [Dolrudee] for bankruptcy is an option we are now considering so as to recover the debt owed by her, as this case is a Thai civil case and the judgement cannot be enforced overseas,” Banjong said.
“Even though the guarantors had already paid back the principal amount of the debt totalling around Bt8 million, the former dentistry lecturer still has to pay back the total scholarship cost plus a fine totalling Bt30 million, as she also has to return the money to her guarantors.” Earlier, the university had filed a lawsuit against Dolrudee and the guarantors in the Administrative Court for settlement of the debt in October 2004. In February 2006, the court ruled in favour of the university.
Banjong said the university would have to take action before the statute of limitation in the case expires on Valentine’s Day. He said if Dolrudee were to be declared bankrupt by the court and her name were to be listed as bankrupt, it would be possible to pursue debt reclamation abroad, or if she came back to Thailand she could be detained by the Immigration Bureau.
Reacting to criticism that the university had not done enough to recover the dues and had instead passed on the burden to the guarantors, he said the university had done everything it could to ask the former lecturer to pay back. He said he felt for the guarantors, as they were all lecturers or alumnis of the university.

Guarantors repay principal amount
“Therefore, after negotiations with them we reached an agreement for them to pay only Bt8 million – the principal debt amount – and all of them have paid their part of the debt,” he said.
Asked why the university had allowed Dolrudee to resign, he said the university cannot cite the scholarship debt as the reason to object to her resignation because it was against the regulation of the Office of the Civil Service Commission.
Dolrudee received the scholarship from OHEC to study for a master’s degree and doctoral degree at Harvard University in 1994. Under the scholarship terms, she was required to come back to work at the university twice during her period of study.
However, when she graduated in 2004 she chose to study further and was employed as a lecturer at Harvard University. Hence, she was required to pay back the scholarship amount plus a 200-per-cent penalty to OHEC, but she had refused to do so.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Dentistry Council will next week consider revoking Dolrudee’s licence to practise in the country, council president Toranin Jarasjarongkiat said. He said her licence is still valid but the council has received a number of complaints asking it to consider such an action.