Thailand’s Military Conscription Marches On For Now – Analysis

By Paul Chambers

While conscription 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, led by Thailand’s largest political party, reflects a broader societal shift against the military’s entrenched role in the country. 

Under Thailand’s 1954 Military Service Act, each April, men aged 21 or higher draw 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 the Reserve 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 is also the issue of bribery.

Supporters of conscription stress that it provides a large pool of cheap security labour,  teaches self-discipline and fosters patriotism. As a long-entrenched military policy, it bolsters border security, which is especially crucial given Myanmar’s instability, as well as China’s influence on Cambodia and Laos. But critics see conscription as unnecessary and undemocratic, especially where conscripts can be hazed, abused, and suffer violence in military camps. A recent study found no evidence that conscription instils ‘patriarchal values’.

In 2023, a military spokesperson stated that 100,000 people are drafted each year, making conscription necessary because volunteer enlistment makes up only 30–40 per cent of new recruits. While conscription aids security, it also represents forced labour, allowing the military to maintain a 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, for up to three years, for refusing to draw a card, charged with civil disobedience. 

Both the Pheu Thai Party and the Move Forward Party have voiced opposition to conscription. Young supporters of the Move Forward Party have particularly opposed conscription. Growing opposition to the military has gained momentum following the 2014–19 military junta. In 2019, young Thais rallied around the anti-military Future Forward Party. 

In 2020, the Constitutional Court dissolved the Future Forward Party, provoking thousands of youths to protest against the junta leader General Prayuth Chan-o-cha. These demonstrators were instrumental in ensuring the Move Forward Party’s victory in the 2023 May general election. It campaigned on a platform to reduce the military’s size and replaceconscription with an all-volunteer force offering higher pay and benefits. In an apparent response to the Move 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 would rely less on conscription.

In August 2023, the centrist Pheu Thai Party, led by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, formed government instead of the progressive Move Forward Party. Pheu Thai appointed businessman Srettha Thavisin as prime minister and civilian politician Suthin Klangsaeng as defense minister. 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 the draft would not be reduced.

Pheu Thai’s apparent abandonment of its pre-election promises to end conscription has boosted Move Forward’s popularity among progressive voters who feel that Puea Thai has sold out to the military and palace in exchange for a chance to lead the government. If the Move Forward Party survives potential dissolution by the Constitutional Court, it is 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 and the Move Forward Party have 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 military is keeping conscription as it is.

• 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