Students opened up after storming Parliament to protest their inability to renew their student loans following stricter criteria and quota restrictions, pushing disadvantaged youth out of the system, forcing them to resort to illegal loans or drop out to work.
On 26 Aug 2016 GMT+7, the National Children and Youth Council of Thailand, together with a student group, submitted a petition to the Senate's Education, Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Committee due to insufficient student loan quotas preventing students from renewing their loans.
Mr. Polathip Phimsuwan, a first-year student at Uttaradit Rajabhat University, shared survey results from over 1,600 affected students, finding that 47% risk dropping out; some had to take illegal loans, pawn gold, or halt studies.
Senator Prinya Wongcherdkhuan, received the petition from the student group, stating the special committee reviewing the 2027 CE annual budget bill in the House of Representatives refused to increase the student loan fund budget by about 5 billion baht from the requested 9 billion baht. He urged the government to allocate additional funds to avoid cutting opportunities for the country's future intellectual and driving forces.
The student group has already petitioned the government but received no response, viewing Thai education as neglected. They stressed the government must prevent students from dropping out, warning of a chain reaction with significant impacts. Some students who applied for loans in previous years might not receive funding to pay tuition. The survey shows nearly 50% risk dropping out.
Prinya pointed out that much of the budget from various sources has been transferred to the 2027 CE mid-year central budget. He questioned whether this budget would be allocated to help these students or be tied to the 400-billion-baht loan decree, effectively using students as leverage to pass the loan bill.
Nevertheless, the government must find ways to allow students into the student loan system to continue their studies. Regarding the over 220 billion baht in unpaid loans from previous borrowers, the government and the loan fund must jointly devise solutions.
Thairath Online special news team discussed this issue with Mr. Polathip Phimsuwan, a student who submitted the petition and is directly affected. He explained that he has borrowed student loans since vocational certificate year 2 through diploma year 2 and is currently a first-year university student. Normally, previous borrowers can renew loans without further screening, while new borrowers are those who have never borrowed before.
However, the student loan fund introduced a more complex verification and screening process. Those changing their level of study or transferring schools, even if previous borrowers, are now treated as new borrowers, who must undergo new qualification checks. Priority is given to students who meet criteria in fields the fund specially promotes, with quota allocation ranked as follows.
1. Study in priority demand fields / specially promoted by the fund,
- Previously received scholarships from the Equitable Education Fund or hold state welfare cards (borrower/family), or are financially disadvantaged (family income not exceeding 360,000 baht/year).
2. Study in priority demand fields / specially promoted by the fund,
3. Study in other fields beyond the priority demand or specially promoted fields,
- Previously received scholarships from the Equitable Education Fund or hold state welfare cards (borrower/family).
4. Study in other fields beyond the priority demand or specially promoted fields,
- Financially disadvantaged (family income not exceeding 360,000 baht/year).
Polathip said he falls under category 4, which meets criteria but his quota rank was too low. At his university, 570 students applied for loans, but only 351 received quotas, and 92 failed to submit documents on time, leaving their status pending at the school (document verification stage). He realized around 15 July 2016 GMT+7 that his application was unsuccessful, and the loan fund closed submissions. The real reason appeared to be that quotas were full.
Polathip added that on 17 July 2016 GMT+7, he distributed a survey on students at risk of dropping out due to loan issues in the Facebook groups “Student Loan Fund Gathering” and “Share Student Loan Problems.” The survey attracted many responses, so he created a large open chat group called “Student Loan Problem Pen” with about 1,000 members and formed five smaller network groups. The survey was widely shared and closed on 31 July 2016 GMT+7, collecting about 1,652 responses from 15 institutions, showing approximately 29,000 loan applicants but only about 15,000 quotas.
Polathip lives with his 83-year-old grandmother who has Alzheimer's; they are only two in the household. If his loan application fails, he must leave the education system because their income is limited to her 1,600 baht monthly pension and his part-time job earning 230 baht per day, 4-5 days a week, which barely covers household expenses but not tuition.
He gave an example of a student studying renewable energy engineering who previously paused studies to perform traditional Thai music to earn tuition. The demands of study now prevent such breaks, forcing the student to apply for a loan. Without it, they would have to drop out due to insufficient tuition funds.
The student group hopes the National Children and Youth Council will support and advocate for them, as the council is responsible for youth issues, amplifying young voices to adults and coordinating with relevant agencies to address this problem.