Thailand’s Military Conscription Marches On For Now – Analysis

By Paul Chambers

Whileconscription has never been popular among young Thai men, opposition to mandatory military service has skyrocketed, particularly after the 2023 electoral success of the Move Forward Party, which has made the abolition of conscription a central issue. The growing resistance, ledby Thailand’s largest political party, reflects a broader societal shift against the military’s entrenched role in the country.

Under Thailand’s1954 Military Service Act, eachApril, men aged 21 or higherdraw cards in a lottery system to determine whether they will be conscripted: black means exemption from service, while red requires two years of duty.High school students can avoid the draft by completing three years in theReserve Officer Training Corps, while volunteers who enlist only have to serve one year. There are options for deferring the draft, but these are only temporary solutions, with outright exemptions given on an extremely selective health or job-specific basis.There isalso theissue ofbribery.

Supporters of conscription stress that it provides a large pool of cheap security labour,teaches self-discipline and fosters patriotism. As along-entrenched military policy, it bolsters border security, which is especially crucial givenMyanmar’sinstability, as well as China’sinfluence onCambodiaand Laos.But criticssee conscription as unnecessary andundemocratic, especially where conscripts can be hazed, abused, andsuffer violencein military camps.A recent study found no evidence that conscription instils‘patriarchal values’.

In 2023, a military spokesperson stated that 100,000 people are draftedeach year, making conscription necessary because volunteer enlistmentmakesup only30–40 per cent of new recruits. While conscription aids security, it also represents forced labour, allowing the military to maintaina leading role in society.Only the monarchy — not elected governments — can command the military.

In April 2024, activist and monk Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal refused to draw a card — an almost unheard-of act of civil disobedience. He did so as a conscientious objector, arguing that the draft diminishes the income and welfare of many Thai people. If prosecuted, he will be the first person to be imprisoned, forup to three years, for refusing to draw a card, charged withcivildisobedience.

BoththePheuThaiPartyandtheMove ForwardPartyhavevoiced oppositionto conscription.Youngsupporters oftheMove ForwardPartyhave particularly opposed conscription.Growing opposition to the militaryhas gained momentum following the 2014–19 military junta. In 2019, young Thais ralliedaround the anti-military Future ForwardParty.

In 2020, the Constitutional Court dissolvedtheFuture ForwardParty, provoking thousands of youthstoprotest against the junta leader General Prayuth Chan-o-cha. These demonstrators were instrumental in ensuringtheMove Forward Party’s victory inthe 2023 May general election.Itcampaigned on a platform to reduce the military’s size and replaceconscription with an all-volunteer force offeringhigher pay and benefits.In an apparent response totheMove Forward Party’s electoral success, Thailand’s military leadership announced in June 2023 that it favoured increasing military salaries, was already cutting the size of the armed forces and wouldrely less on conscription.

In August 2023, the centrist PheuThai Party, led byformer Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra,formed governmentinstead of the progressive Move Forward Party. PheuThai appointed businessman Srettha Thavisin asprimeminister and civilian politicianSuthin Klangsaeng asdefenseminister. Suthin vowed to gradually reduce conscription—not eliminate it altogether.But in April 2024, facing pressure from security chiefs, he reversed course and announced that thedraft wouldnot be reduced.

PheuThai’s apparent abandonment of its pre-election promises to endconscription has boostedMove Forward’s popularity among progressive voterswho feel that Puea Thai has sold out to the military and palaceinexchange for a chance to lead the government. IftheMove ForwardPartysurvives potential dissolutionby the ConstitutionalCourt,itis likely to perform well in the next election due to its stance on this issue. Even if dissolved, a successor party could continue to campaign on conscription reform.

The efforts of activists such as Netiwit andtheMove ForwardPartyhave brought conscription into the public eye—making it an election issue and forcing the military to consider reforming to an all-volunteer military. The anti-military character of these efforts could well fuel a rise in conscientious objection, a significant shift in a country with a strong military presence.But for now, the militaryiskeeping conscription as itis.

• About the author: Paul Chambers is Lecturer at the Centre of ASEAN Community Studies, Naresuan University, Thailand, and has published extensively on military affairs in Southeast Asia.
• Source: This article was published by East Asia Forum