Dr Padet Pulwittayakij, one of the four guarantors for Dr Dolrudee Jumlongras, revealed in aFacebook post on Thursday night that Dolrudee, who broke the scholarship conditions to work in Thailand and refused to pay back the scholarship money, is being investigated by the Ombuds Office, after email complaints against her were sent to the office.

The case captured attention of Thai online users who have launched a justice campaign against Dolrudee.

As part of the justice campaign, Thai social-media users have been sharing Dolrudee’s photos, her home address, her office address as well as her colleagues’ contact information. They have also set up a petition calling on Harvard to stop supporting her, saying she had taken advantage of taxpayers and the country for the sake of furthering her education. Many lashed out at her using rude language, while others gave her a poor rating and expressed their disappointment on Harvard University’s Facebook page calling for the university to take action against her.

After more than a thousand users began posting comments since last Friday at her post on Olsen Symposium, which contained her picture dating back to April 2011, the post was pulled off on Thursday.

Fuadi Pitsuwan, however, wrote: “On the dentist breaching the scholarship contract, I don’t think we should see it in terms of patriotism or gratitude for the country. Everybody with that level of education knows that being a researcher at such a university will be a better contribution to humanity and Thailand [than at a university in Thailand] … The problem is that she left her guarantors to pay the debt for her without any concrete plans to repay. These are different issues.”

The Cabinet approved the draft of the report on Tuesday and it reflects the real situation and tasks undertaken by the government on human rights promotion and protection, a Foreign Ministry official said.

Each UN member country submits a Universal Periodic Review every four year.

The content of the Thai report covers seven points on the government’s human rights work, the official said.

One the key issues covered is the provisional constitution enforced by the military junta since the May 2014 coup. It states the basic rights of the people are guaranteed in the interim charter like was the case for many previous constitutions in Thailand, he said.

The drafting of the new constitution involves intensive people participation and must be passed in a referendum to be enforced, he said.

The report states the government aims to reduce economic and social inequality, while ruling in accordance with the rule of law and respecting people’s human rights.

It also states the government has a national human rights plan and is amending many laws so they complied with international norms, as well as supporting and strengthening human rights mechanisms, notably the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Thailand is also a member in the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and plays a crucial role in promoting human rights works in the group and elswhere.

Thailand has been widely criticised for its human rights practices, and last week the NHRC was downgraded by to “B” by the International Coordinating Committee on National Human Rights Institutions.

THE HARVARD University instructor at the centre of a fellowship controversy has let down her outspoken guarantor so many times that she would have to sign an ironclad contract with legal binding effect in the United States to convince him she would really pay up.

“She has told me throughout the past 10 years that she will pay, but she has not done what she promises. So it will take a written agreement for me to believe her,” Dr Padet Pulwittayakij said yesterday in response to a statement that Dr Dolrudee Jumlongras had just sent to Nation TV, a media outlet under Nation Multimedia Group.

The station wrote to Dolrudee twice this week, on Sunday and Monday, asking her about allegations that she had not only violated the terms of her government fellowship but also refused to pay compensation for it.

Dolrudee replied at about 11pm on Wednesday that she had run into difficulties and it was impossible for her to meet the repayment deadline.

“I am still in the process of trying to obtain the money, and I ask that I be allowed more time to pay my co-signers,” she said in her note.

Padet has already paid more than Bt2 million for Dolrudee’s breach of the government fellowship. A few other guarantors were also forced to do the same thing.

Under the fellowship, Dolrudee has to pay about Bt30 million for the breach.

However, the guarantors have been given some leniency because they are not the wrongdoers and not related to her by blood.

Dolrudee, a dental lecturer at Mahidol University, headed to the US in 1994 to pursue her master’s and doctorate degrees at Harvard under a Thai government fellowship. During that time, she continued receiving a monthly salary from Mahidol.

But instead of honouring the fellowship’s requirement that upon graduation she return to Thailand to serve the government for double her study period, she resigned from Mahidol with effect in late 2003.

Since then she has wired just about US$50,000 (Bt1.8 million) to her guarantors.

Assistant Professor Pattarawadee Leelataweewud, a deputy chief for Mahidol’s paediatric dentistry unit, told the media that she had agreed to become Dolrudee’s guarantor because she hoped Dolrudee’s further studies would benefit the public.

“I did nothing wrong but I ended up having to pay millions of baht in compensation,” she said.

Padet said he had never received any apology from Dolrudee and he felt like she wrote the recent letter to Nation TV only because she felt the growing pressure.

“I will sue her to set a precedent,” Padet said.

Some Thais in the US are now raising funds for his legal battle with her, he said.

The first move can destroy her credibility significantly, while the latter could even get her extradited back from the United States (US). She is now married to an American.

“By having her declared a bankrupt person, she will lose her credibility. It matters a lot to a person teaching at an overseas university,” Chuchart Boonyongyos, who chairs a club related to credit-card and personal-loan debts in Thailand, recently pointed out.

Although Chuchart didn’t mention Dr Dolrudee Jumlongras by name, he is apparently referring to her now much-publicised case.

At present, Dolrudee is teaching at the prestigious Harvard University. But in fact, the contract that paved way for her to study for her master’s and a doctorate degrees at Harvard required her to come back to Thailand to teach at the state-run Mahidol University (MU). However, she quit MU after completing her doctorate studies. By breaking the contract, her four guarantors were forced to pay Bt8million.

Chuchart said under Thai law, anyone who has gone bankrupt would not be able to leave the country without permission from the court.

“That means if she happens to visit Thailand, she won’t be able to leave,” he said.

He added that by filing criminal actions against the female dentist, she could be extradited back from the US where she had been living for more than a decade now.

Officials along with police and related agencies also fined two scuba-instruction boats Bt5,000 each for failing to present an instructor’s licence onboard and for using the boat for a different purpose than what it was registered for.

Noppharatthara Beach-Phi Phi Islands National Park official Plianprasop Khaonuan said the park has urged tour boats in the scuba-diving business to apply for a proper permit to access deepwater spots within the park to avoid overlapping with boat navigation routes.

Meanwhile, Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Krabi branch office director Apichai Aranyik went to see the two injured Russians at Krabi Hospital, but the one whose leg was severed had already been sent via a chartered helicopter to a Bangkok hospital. Police initially pressed the charge of reckless driving causing serious injuries to others against the speedboat driver.

The fishermen say they are not able to catch enough fish and that this practice could lead to the ruin of coastal natural resources.

After submitting the petition, the group also gathered outside the ministry’s headquarters in Bangkok, armed with three boxes of mackerel and Ornate Threadfin Bream that can be found beyond the three nautical miles, to express their worries.

Sama-ae Jehmudor, chief of the Association of Thai Fisherfolk Federation, said Article 34 – one of the measures implemented to eradicate illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Thailand – would impact their livelihood adversely.

It also limits the right to sea of small-scale fishermen, who account for more than 80 per cent fisherfolk in 22 coastal provinces, he said.

“Small-scale fishing is the foundation of the community economy, which provides food security and generates income for these people. It is a good practice that produces good quality products and is environmentally responsible,” he said.

Limiting them to inshore fishing can also lead to fights among fishermen over marine resources and that is not good for the long run because the coastal area is supposed to be a nursery ground for fish and habitat of rare marine life, he added. On the other hand, this decree also allows commercial fishermen to fish from the coast up to the exclusive economic zone’s 200-nautical-mile territory, he said. As fishing folk from 17 provinces had already appealed to the government to cancel Article 34, but heard nothing in response, the group returned to the ministry yesterday to ask about the progress, Sama-ae added.

Since the problems stem from destructive fishing practices, a more sustainable solution would be banning dangerous fishing equipment such as trawling and push nets as well as electrical tools for catching fish, he said.

Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Ban Thung Noi fishermen group chief Piya Thesyaem reiterated that the government should cancel the article and instead announce the area within 12 nautical miles from the coast to be accessible for small fishing boats under 10 gross tonnes and commercial boats over 10 tonnes gross with the implementation of control on fishing equipment.

 

Kasem Klanying and others allegedly may of have embezzled OTEPC money via its suspicious and huge investments in the Billion Innovated Group.

They have had their assets frozen.

“Our probe reveals that in 2011 his group might have also caused damages to the OTEPC via Nong Khai Na Yoo Co Ltd,” Department of Special Investigation deputy chief Pol Lt-Colonel Pong-in Intarakhao said yesterday.

He said that after Nong Khai Na Yoo increased its registered capital from Bt1 million to Bt1 billion, OTEPC bought Bt800 worth of its shares.

“There are grounds to suspect that there have been irregularities involved. So, we have forwarded the case to relevant agencies including the National Anti-Corruption Commission,” Pong-in said.

THE SOCIAL Development and Human Security minister yesterday confirmed that the renovation of the Din Daeng flats – under which old buildings will be knocked down to be replaced with high-rise condominiums – would go ahead.

Pol General Adul Sangsingkeo told the press that the panel in charge of the project has decided to go ahead, adding that a team would be set up to gather opinions from the residents and help them better understand the project.

This action came after some 200 residents rallied against the project on Sunday and also complained that the Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT) had not conducted any further tests, which they say might help solve the conflict.

“The committee has decided to go ahead with the renovation project as it is part of the 10-year master plan. However, there will still be public participation in the project and all those who are affected will be compensated,” Adul said.

“I understand that this is a very big project and concerns a lot of people, so it is normal that some will not be happy about it. But the project has to go ahead because it is for public interest as a whole.”

He also reasoned that the buildings were very old and in a bad condition, which can be very dangerous during an earthquake. Also, he said, it would be too expensive to repair these buildings.

The Din Daeng flats renovation project is part of the National Housing Authority (NHA)’s master plan to reconstruct and enlarge housing estates that are more than 50 years old.

The Din Daeng flats will be replaced with 36 high-rise condominiums that are 25 to 35 storeys high and will consist of 20,292 units that are 33 square metres in size. Rents at the new condos will rise to Bt1,000 to Bt1,500 per month, compared to the current rate of between Bt300 and Bt600 per month.

“Tomorrow [today], we will hold a meeting and will invite all sides to discuss the project, including the residents and engineers from EIT,” Adul said.

As for residents’ anxiety about the absence of EIT-led in-depth inspection of the buildings apart from preliminary checks in September, EIT secretary Siriwat Chaichana said this was because NHA had never told them to conduct further checks. He added that EIT has already sent its preliminary reports to the housing authority.

Ubonwan Suebyubol, NHA’s acting governor, responded by saying that the committee had not decided about continuing with the renovation project, so the inspection had to be postponed.

Separately, Adul said the NHA’s next move would be to authenticate the rights of all residents because he said people are only eligible to own one unit, but some own more than one and have put their spare rooms up for rent.

He also said that NHA officers will be investigated to see who has been supporting and benefiting from this illegal practice.

 

POLICE YESTERDAY searched the apartment of a Spanish man whose body parts were found in several locations, to solve the murder mystery.

They also checked his Line chats and talked to one of his friends for clues about his dealings before his murder.

Police suspected that the man was killed and dismembered after he was kidnapped and extorted.

The first body part, a right arm with tape around the wrist, was found floating in the Chao Phraya River at the end of Charansanidwong 42.

The following day, three other body parts were found – a right leg in Nonthaburi’s Muang district, a head in the province’s Pak Kret district and a torso in Pathum Thani province.

Other body parts were subsequently spotted at different locations along the Chao Phraya River. As of yesterday only the left arm was yet to be found.

DNA tests revealed that the body parts belonged to the same man.

Pol General Panya Mamen, the case’s chief investigator, said the victim was a Spanish businessman who worked as an adviser to a foreign company.

Panya added that it was possible the murder may have stemmed from conflicts in an illegal business and police had not ruled other motives.

He believed more two people were involved in the murder and they were laying low in Thailand.

“I am convinced that this case will be solved within 48 hours. All the perpetrators are foreign gangsters, but we suspect that some Thais may have had knowledge of the crime,” he said.

An official at the Spanish Embassy in Bangkok said the embassy was yet to receive confirmation of the victim’s identity.

Panya said the murder likely took place between January 25-27. Detectives are working on the theory that he was kidnapped and coerced before being killed, the general said.

“Police have also detected that after his death, the killers transferred his money to several countries including Singapore, Spain and within Thailand,” Panya said.

The victim’s four-star apartment is located on Sukhumvit Soi 8 in Klong Toey district, an informed source said, adding a witness said he usually left his key card inside the apartment and had security guards or maids open the door for him.

He was a frequent visitor to Thailand with a latest entry date of January 19, the source said.

He left the apartment on January 20 on a motorcycle and was carrying a foreign passenger.

One of his friends alerted Lumpini police on Wednesday to say he might know the identity of the victim. The source quoted his friend as saying he texted the victim via Line and believed the person texting him back was not his friend. His phone was switched off.

The name of victim is being withheld until the next of kin is notified.