Educational authorities are slapping tighter restrictions on loan applicants to try to teach the teachers financial responsibility. "For example, if a teacher's debt-to-salary ratio is higher than 80%, they should not be allowed to take on further debt. According to the Education Ministry, the total amount owed by teachers to the GSB and various cooperatives is estimated at 1.2 trillion baht. The GSB alone has lent 410 billion baht to 450,000 teachers or, on average, about one million baht to each teacher. But most teachers also have low-interest loans from other sources such as cooperatives, the teachers' welfare fund and funeral loan schemes.

Source: Bangkok Post October 30, 2018 21:56 UTC