Academics call on NCPO head to use article 44 to enact student loan reform

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Academics call on NCPO head to use article 44 to enact student loan reform

BANGKOK, 15 June 2016 (NNT) - Academic economists have suggested that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) cancel the student loan fund in favor of the student loan fund that deducts payments from future income, in order to effectively management student debt and reduce litigation against students.

Secretary of the Office of the Education Council Kamol Rodklai inaugurated the 8th OEC Forum on Thailand’s student loan system to find better ways of managing student loans.

Professor at School of Development Economics of the National Institute of Development Administration Methee Klongkaew revealed that the student loan fund currently has 500,000 credit defaults out of more than 2 million borrowers. He suggested that all loans be transferred to the student loan fund that deducts payments from future income in order for borrowers to better manage and effectively pay off their loans.

He urged the head of the NCPO to use his power under article 44 of the 2015 interim constitution to immediately enact the proposal.


-- NNT 2016-06-15

[rkidlad]

The amazing article 44!

Reminds me of an episode of 'The Simpsons' where homer buys a gun. He's obsessed and uses it for everything. Opening cans of beer to shooting off the light switches at night.

[thesetat2013]

1/4 of student borrowers are in default yet, they seem powerless to get payment without Mr. P stepping in and using art. 44? What's wrong with this picture.

[chainarong]

As most academic's don't support or approve of section 44 , I can't understand Methee calling for section 44 , and bulldozing through another un-thought out piece of law , an academic of Methee stature can surely do better than this , indirectly Methee is showing support for section 44 , what needs to be done is the forming of a working committee and address this issue properly in a well thought out structure , what happens when the future loan fund is depleted, it is there for one purpose and now Methee wants to load it up more.................................................

[DrTuner]

44, the new word for what can't be said on this forum. At least it's not 555.

[MaxLee]

Well so if I understand that correctly,..... new graduates will just work 5-6 years without payment to settle their student debts,......

[Krataiboy]

How about giving Thais free education up and including university level? The education ministry has one of the biggest budgets in the world, per capita yet still somehow contrives to produce one of the least successful government school systems in south-east Asia.

Some of the billions of baht wasted by this white elephant outfit should be diverted directly to help students who have the talent but not the means to benefit from higher education.

Young Thais are going to have their work cut out helping support a massive ageing population, without having the burden of paying back massive loans to contend wth.

Investing in the next generation isThailand's best bet for being able to compete in ASEAN and across an increasingly global marketplace. This is far more important than the grandiose infrastructure schemes at which the present junta is throwing money like confetti. It's time to rethink priorities.

[Winniedapu]

1/4 of student borrowers are in default yet, they seem powerless to get payment without Mr. P stepping in and using art. 44? What's wrong with this picture.

The absence of any kind of a clue...?

W

Edited June 15, 2016 by Winniedapu

[Winniedapu]

How about giving Thais free education up and including university level? The education ministry has one of the biggest budgets in the world, per capita yet still somehow contrives to produce one of the least successful government school systems in south-east Asia.

Some of the billions of baht wasted by this white elephant outfit should be diverted directly to help students who have the talent but not the means to benefit from higher education.

Young Thais are going to have their work cut out helping support a massive ageing population, without having the burden of paying back massive loans to contend wth.

Investing in the next generation isThailand's best bet for being able to compete in ASEAN and across an increasingly global marketplace. This is far more important than the grandiose infrastructure schemes at which the present junta is throwing money like confetti. It's time to rethink priorities.

Good, solid suggestions.

But this is Thailand.

Thais don't make mistakes, and if they did, admitting to mistakes is anathema. No government official is going to admit they've got a crap education system and have had for decades - not going to happen, face is everything in Thailand. No Thai will knowingly cause another Thai (especially someone senior to them) to lose face because that would open the floodgates and someone might cause *them* to lose face. Unacceptable. Besides, until quite recently if you caused a senior to lose serious face, you might well end up getting killed for it. This is not Europe or the USA or Australasia, a completely separate and relatively primitive set of rules applies.

Besides, they've got lots of pictures so everything is just peachey, that trumps quality of teaching every time, they're not going to admit that their education sucks, so it will likely not get better any time soon. They'll learn when the alternative is disaster and has already happened, not a microsecond before.

W

Edited June 15, 2016 by Winniedapu

[Praematura]

I'm American and it pisses me off that my government charges for school. So no money, no school regardless of IQ. I've a 149 IQ, I'm mired in close to $500k in defaulted student debt. I worked in government service for a long time both state and federal. The Chinese work hard in science and math, school is free and their next generation will be the most intelligent relative to other countries that don't invest in their youth. Problem is we have an over abundance of simpletons in the USA that want to keep cutting taxes.

[Winniedapu]

I'm American and it pisses me off that my government charges for school. So no money, no school regardless of IQ. I've a 149 IQ, I'm mired in close to $500k in defaulted student debt. I worked in government service for a long time both state and federal. The Chinese work hard in science and math, school is free and their next generation will be the most intelligent relative to other countries that don't invest in their youth. Problem is we have an over abundance of simpletons in the USA that want to keep cutting taxes.

Well said. and of course you're right. The rise of the right wing in USA has resulted in the decline of the USA. Now one of the most reviled countries in the world, and with a collapsing society - all to keep the 1% growing richer.

Went there once (CA) and stayed for a few months that seemed like 10 years. Never again. No offence.

Back on topic: School in Thailand should be free. Thailand should learn from Finland, but sadly, Thailand doesn't think it needs to learn anything from anyone. I think the last thing they learned from another country is when they decided to put zebra crossings outside schools, and then didn't think to tell the vehicle drivers they had to stop.

W

Edited June 15, 2016 by Winniedapu

[taony]

not just cutting taxes. Tax revenues are quite high. We should be spending the money on education, infrastructure, healthcare etc. etc.

Just build a few less bombs and things could be honkey dorey.

[williamgeorgeallen]

think part of the problem is too many kids going to uni. i am one of these people. 4 years at uni and never ending up doing anything remotely related to my degrees. (i worked 2 jobs so i did not need to borrow any money from the government) needing a uni degree to work in 7/11 is unnecessary. 25% default is extremely high. will be hard to break the culture of borrowed money seen as a gift though.