Pradorn explains that the NESDB budget for 2027 has been increased to 9 billion baht. He urges urgent debt collection from 2.6 million borrowers, stressing the critical challenge of distinguishing between unemployed individuals and those earning income yet defaulting. He insists that collecting 30-40% of debts would nearly eliminate the need for additional government funding to the fund.
22 Sep 2026 GMT+7 Mr. Pradorn Prisananantakul, Minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office, commented on the case of the Student Loan Fund (NESDB). He addressed concerns about NESDB's liquidity shortage preventing tuition payments to universities, which led to universities threatening to bar students from exams. He said that on Thursday (17 Sep 2026), after proposed legislation was introduced, he discussed the issue. The problem was that NESDB had not been able to transfer funds to universities in the first month due to ongoing issues, prompting universities to warn students they could not sit exams if payments were not made. After Mr. Yossanan learned of this, he spoke with university presidents nationwide, and this problem should no longer persist.
Regarding the 2026 budget shortfall for NESDB, he noted that as of 22 Sep 2026, only eight days remain before the new fiscal year starts on 1 Oct 2026. The government has nearly doubled NESDB’s budget from 5 billion baht in 2026 to 9 billion baht in 2027, even as other agencies faced cuts. He said it would be unfair to claim the government does not prioritize NESDB since the funding was increased to 9 billion baht, which will become available from 1 Oct 2026 after the new budget is enacted. This money will support NESDB’s system going forward.
Asked if the main problem is loan defaults, Pradorn said NESDB currently has 3.6 million borrowers. Alarmingly, only 1 million are good borrowers who pay on time, while 2.6 million, or 60%, are delinquent. NESDB struggles to deal with those who cannot pay on time. He stressed the need to separate these 2.6 million into two groups: those unemployed without income who should be exempted, and those earning income but choosing not to repay NESDB. The latter group must be identified and pursued for debt collection.
Among the 1 million paying borrowers, some are government officials or employed students working in private companies with agreements for automatic salary deductions to repay NESDB. This system is already in place. NESDB’s challenge is identifying which of the 2.6 million defaulters have income and are able to repay, then negotiating debt collection accordingly.
Pradorn also stated, it is alarming that NESDB does not know how many unemployed borrowers it has or the status of its debtors—who can repay and who cannot. This is a major challenge. NESDB’s management is inadequate, as it cannot verify whether borrowers with income have funds circulating in their accounts. He reiterated that the key task is to collect repayments from as many as 30-40% of the 2.6 million delinquent borrowers. Achieving this would greatly reduce the government's need to provide additional funds to NESDB.
Regarding fraudulent loan applications, Pradorn said this involves coordination between NESDB and universities. The responsibility lies with those approving loans, namely the universities, which have allowed such fraud to occur.