Students at a university in Rayong province are claiming that they have been harassed by an unidentified woman, who is demanding that they withdraw their lawsuit in the Administrative Court against the manager of the Student Loan Fund office of Rayong province.

The provincial office has rejected the loan applications of some 3,000 students at the university, reportedly on the grounds that a number of students have breached the terms of loan contracts.

One of the students, who claims to represent a large group of students whose applications have been rejected, told the media that she received three phone calls from a mysterious woman on January 31^st, asking her and her classmates to withdraw the lawsuit if they want their loan applications approved.

The student also claimed that, when they showed up to meet with the unidentified caller at the university the following day, they encountered a group of men at the front gate instead, making them feel unsafe and prompting them to lodge a complaint with the Mueang district police.

She said that they would agree to talk with the management of the Student Loan Fund provincial office at the court only.

The Student Loan Fund has tightened up on the granting of new loans because many borrowers have defaulted on repayments after graduation. The Fund has incurred more than one trillion baht in unpaid loans. The widespread defaults have also depleted the Fund’s reserves, forcing the Fund to be more selective in granting new loans.

The Fund has proposed a refinancing scheme, inviting borrowers in default to negotiate a new repayment schedule.