The new army chief has ruled out ending military draft but said he would make sure soldiers treat conscripts as their “youngest brothers”.
Every country has soldiers and a ban on the draft is impossible, says Gen Apirat. (Bangkok Post file photo)
Gen Apirat Kongsompong on Saturday discussed his policy on new conscripts who reported to the army from Thursday to Saturday.
Asked whether the draft should be lifted, he said it was still necessary.
“Such a call [for an end to military draft] comes from only a group of people," he said. "Every country has soldiers. A country without them is weak. Why don’t we view becoming soldiers as having a job?
“The issue against military draft was raised by a minority of people and sometimes it’s politically driven. But believe me, every country has soldiers and a ban on the draft is impossible. Soldiers must come from drafting, screening and a volunteer system.”
He also thanked the parents of all conscripts. “We’re grateful and you can rest assured the armed forces will take very good care of them. The day they return to you, you’ll see the differences. We insist we’ll make your children good citizens of the country.”
While there have been calls for an end to the draft, most proponents suggest it be replaced by an all-volunteer system since the proportion of volunteers has already increased over the years thanks to improved salaries and other benefits.
On the welfare of conscripts, the army chief pledged to take good care of them.
“My policy is to create model soldiers so I pay attention to conscripts, who are like little brothers or youngest brothers at each military unit,” he said.
A new regulation has been issued to make sure conscripts have access to good food, sanitary living conditions and adequate accommodation.
“Training officers play a very important role. They must make sacrifices and take care of the details, some of which call for quick problem-solving before a budget can be approved,” he added.
Gen Apirat also warned that any punishments must be appropriate and in proportion to the disciplinary breach, or the officers imposing the penalties will be seriously punished. “If this happens again, the line commanders must be held responsible,” he said.
There have been incidents where conscripts were beaten, fatally in some cases, by their supervisors or peers. Several cases of abuse or misuse of conscripts such as for housework have also been discussed in social media, leading to the debate whether the draft should end and the military turned into all-volunteer forces.
Over the past six years, demand for conscripts by the armed forces was on the rise, from 94,480 in 2013 to 104,734 this year.