The recent death of Private Songtham Mudmad at Payak Camp in Yala's Bannang Sata district is clear proof the army cannot keep its promise to ban the brutal treatment of conscripts.
In 2013, the army faced a public uproar after two video clips went viral on social media. One showed a group of soldiers repeatedly kicking a conscript even after he had collapsed on the ground. The other shows two conscripts stripped, tied and beaten up as part of "disciplinary punishment".
To appease the public, the army apologised and promised that the order of then army chief Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to ban brutal punishment in the barracks would be strictly followed.
Army regulations state the only punishments allowed for disciplinary offences by a soldier are probation, fines, detention and confinement.
Gen Prayut is now the most powerful person in the country as prime minister and chairman of the National Council for Peace and Order. Yet brutality in the barracks continues unabated.
What Pvt Songtham and Pvt Chatpisut Chumphan experienced at the military camp in Yala last Friday was not disciplinary punishment -- it was torture.
Pvt Songtham's body was covered with injuries and bruises from severe beatings. He suffered a brain haemorrhage. His face and eyes were swollen, and his genitals burnt by candles. He died the following day at the hospital.
His family cried foul and the army's initial response was dismal. Although the army spokesman apologised and promised punishment, the violence was first linked to the privates' use of illicit drugs, which was false. His family is angry; wrongdoers not only killed their son, but also tried to smear his reputation.
But the truth was out. Pvt Chatpisut told police from his hospital bed that one of the officers stole their money. When asked about it, the accused officer and other soldiers -- with the order from their boss -- beat them up and tortured them in front of other conscripts. Witnesses said they could only watch helplessly out of fear.
Subsequent army investigations confirmed Pvt Chatpisut's testimony. The six soldiers involved in the fatal beatings were sent to military prison, but only for 30 to 45 days. What happens if the investigations take longer than that? The family was also advised to file a lawsuit. The public is perplexed why the army did not use the military court to bring them to justice.
The death of Pvt Songtham will not be the last when the army still treats torture in the army as an exception perpetrated by a few rotten apples. Evidence suggests otherwise.
According to the Cross Cultural Foundation, the past eight years saw 22 high-profile deaths of conscripts and suspects detained in military barracks, from torture and other "mysterious" causes. They are just the tip of the iceberg. Most families dare not protest out of fear. Nor those who suffer injuries, but escaped death.
Widespread brutality in the barracks is one of the main reasons why conscription is dreaded and draft evasion pervasive, giving rise to another cancerous problem in the army -- corruption among conscription officers.
The army must punish abusive soldiers, making it known to the public without delay, and put in place more effective preventive measures. It should also reform military training to arm new recruits with new skills in the face of new national security threats from modern technology.
Voluntary military service can meet this challenge. A system that breeds abuse and corruption cannot. The army should consider replacing conscription with voluntary military service.