Army reform needed first

Army reform needed first

The army chief drew flak from the public this week after he announced there was a possibility that high school students who have undergone territorial defence training may no longer be exempt from the annual conscription draw.

Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said a growing number of students are applying to join the territorial defence forces, popularly called Ror Dor in Thai, to avoid the possibility they might be conscripted.

He said this could lead to a shortfall of fresh recruits and military reserves. Also, it perpetuates the disparity when educated young men can avoid conscription, but not their peers who cannot afford higher education.

Defence Minister Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol Suwanatat quickly expressed support for the move. "It would give more Thai men soldier-like qualities," he said.

The fiercely critical public reaction forced an army spokesman to soften the blow by saying the army chief was just floating an idea which would take a long time to come about anyway, so there was no need to panic.

This pat-on-the-back, patronising reaction shows the military's scant regard for the public. It also demonstrates how the military is out of touch with an increasingly open society which now refuses to take the military's top-down orders as a given.

Compulsory conscription and the regulations involved have significant impacts on the public. The army cannot take the matter lightly and do whatever it likes. Any changes that are not based on solid research and public input will no longer be acceptable.

The number of young men available for conscription is three times higher than the number needed, according to the army chief himself. So why the worry about a lack of fresh recruits?

About 80,000 new recruits enter the army each year for conscription, which can last up to two years. With proper training and attractive incentives, many of these recruits will choose to become professional soldiers.

This would simultaneously equip the army with more soldiers and give the recruits a secure future.

Now, they simply don't because of the army's poor treatment of conscripts.

It is common practice for officers to use conscripts as domestic labour in their households. So why would they choose to stay on?

The Ror Dor controversy has also highlighted the rampant corruption in the conscription process.

It is an open secret that for a fee of no less than 10,000 baht, you can avoid conscription by moving your household registration to areas where the rosters are already full.

You can also pay to have a statement made up saying you are unqualified to serve as a conscript on health grounds.

The conscription plan for Ror Dor students will make many people in the army happy because it will dramatically increase the number of people who are willing to pay their way out of having to serve.

Our country is not under threat of war. The southern insurgency also needs political solutions, not military ones. Increasing the number of recruits and military reserves by drafting in Ror Dor students will not improve the military's efficiency.

The urgent mission of the military must be to turn the bloated, top-heavy, inefficient armed forces into a compact, modern, and efficient organisation.

This cannot be done without tackling the cancerous corruption that reaches from the bottom to the very top. The military must get its priorities right.

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