Furore surrounding cadet's death puts military under microscope

Furore surrounding cadet's death puts military under microscope

Pichet Tanyakan, father of Pakapong
Pichet Tanyakan, father of Pakapong "Moei" Tanyakan, and Sukanya Tanyakan, his mother, carry the boxes containing the organs of their son at the army-run Phramongkutklao Hospital in Bangkok on Friday. They will bring the organs to be tested again by the Central Institute of Forensic Science. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)

After the story of the controversial case surrounding the death of 18-year-old cadet Pakapong Tanyakan broke over the past week, Thailand's military was thrust into the spotlight once again.

untimely end: Cadet Pakapong Tanyakan's death has raised serious questions about training methods used by the military.

Foreign media questioned the autopsy procedure and many Thai people also raised their eyebrows while some even signed a petition calling for those involved to take responsibility for this tragic incident.

The Bangkok Post talked to a military colonel, who was educated in military schools both in Thailand and abroad, about the rash of tragedies that have blighted Thai military academies in recent years.

He acknowledged the need to test the cadets' limits but said physical attacks, major injuries or death can never be acceptable.

"In military schools, to make a man the best he can be, they [trainers] will try to push the limits. The challenge is that the limit of each person is different," said the colonel, who asked not to be named.

Students are trained to be strong both mentally and physically. They have to do physical exercise in thick uniforms in the heat and sometimes have to tolerate the tiredness, physical strain and hunger, he said.

"Before being accepted into the school, the test was very thorough and competitive. However, sometimes physical problems arise later. A cadet might be aware of them but won't speak up for fear that he will not look good in military society," the colonel added while also admitting that sometimes unqualified people got accepted by mistake or by bending the rules.

There are rules of "no touching" for commanders, but some practices can nevertheless result in physical injury. For example, students are given three minutes to change their clothes and gather on the first floor, while their rooms are on the fifth floor. This means they have to run up and down the stairs.

Meanwhile, social media have been flooded with comments from those who disagree with military-style punishments. Equally, military people and cadets themselves have made the point that if a person is not mentally and physically strong enough, they shouldn't join up in the first place.

The unnamed source explained that one particular posture used in training, that of a semi head stand, is a difficult one and needs good technique and much practice, otherwise a student can fall over and injure themselves.

However, he also drew attention to injuries that can arise from more informal situations, such as when the students attempt to teach a lesson to a peer they consider to be a troublemaker.

"At night, in the dark, a group of students might use big blankets to cover the person and attack him with kicking or punching. Some wear boots while kicking or use a fire extinguisher to hit the person. This may cause injuries," he said.

"I don't like this way as it is like gangsters trying to teach others, yet they too are also doing bad," he said, adding that most of the time the person attacked would learn their lesson and rectify their ways. Few students ever quit the schools, he noted.

"Students also have to learn how to live and how they will be expected to make sacrifices for the sake of society and those who are weaker. At one time, the whole group might be very tired and hungry, but you can't be selfish. You can't take precedence over your comrades. You can't take your friend's share of food," he said.

"You also have to be punctual and disciplined. If trouble happens, the whole batch will be punished as it's the whole batch's joint responsibility."

If injuries happen, they must be investigated to find and punish those responsible. However, normally significant injuries are rare and, all too often, the culprits are hard to find, said the colonel.

Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, chairperson for Amnesty International Thailand, said military organisations should make sure that no orders result in physical or mental harm to personnel.

"Although you don't really touch that person, your order to remove clothes can constitute humiliation which also violates human rights," she said.

Meanwhile, in the case of Cadet Pakapong Tanyakan, there are many questions that remain unanswered.

Sections 149 and 150 of the criminal procedural law require a thorough investigation when a person dies while in state custody. However, as he was a cadet student, there is a question as to whether being at the military school is considered being in state custody or not, she said.

Concerning the removal of Pakapong's organs, she said that although the law does not require it, his relatives should have been informed to create an atmosphere of trust.

Amnesty International and the International Committee of Jurists on Thursday issued a joint statement calling on Thailand to expedite passing laws against torture and enforced disappearance to bring the nation into line with the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Another military officer with a rank of lieutenant colonel, who also asked not to be named, said his school had been similar to other military boarding schools where cadets operated an informal policy of "keeping the discipline", which included various physical correctional practices.

He admitted that one such ritual was known as "hitting the cat", but it was not supposed to cause major injuries.

"The punishment involved using pillows to hit the troublemaker," he said, while maintaining that during his time at the school there was no use of hard objects to attack others.

He said the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School was really only a preparation, mentally and physically, for a much tougher regime at higher military education institutions, but in which there was never any torture. "It's just like kindergarten, before primary and secondary schools and higher," he said.

However, no matter how effusively the military attempts to exonerate itself, questions remain as to whether the culture in these institutions needs reforming.

And no matter what the result of the investigation into Pakapong's death, the military will nevertheless have to explain what it is doing differently to prevent similar tragedies from happening again in the future.

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