There are many good reasons why the Future Forward Party's (FFP) bill to replace military conscription with a system of voluntary enrolment should be passed by parliament. One of them is that it will, for the first time, let young men, especially those from poor families, decide their own future. Another is that it will force the military to re-assess the usefulness and review its use of this chunk of the defence personnel, who several times have suffered grave human rights abuses and fatalities.
Of course, the bill will draw strong opposition from the usual critics in society and parliament. But are these critics' from families whose young male members have been enlisted against their will?
Under the conscription law, Thai men aged 21 must be enlisted by means of drawing lots. Exemptions are given to those who have taken the territorial defence course in school. But many from poor and low-income backgrounds have had no such opportunity and they end up forming the majority of the draftees.
It is common to see them fainting or crying publicly during conscription sessions on finding out they have been drafted. Having to serve for two years, or less if they hold a college degree, these men have to quit their jobs, abandoning their role in looking after their families. They miss out on the chance of furthering their careers while the country loses the opportunity to gain from their economic contribution.
Once they are in the barracks, there precise defence roles remain largely unknown to the public. Meanwhile, there have been a string of incidents and allegations of severe corporal punishment and other forms of abuse, which have proven fatal in certain cases. It is well known among Thais that many conscripts are forced to serve as servants of senior officers.
Even though the military in the past year has tried to revamp its image by forbidding officers from abusing draftees and promoting "decent" living conditions in military compounds, putting its house in order does not justify the need for the conscription system to exist.
The FFP's bill proposes tangible changes to the system and everyone must look at it with an open mind.
Every April, approximately 100,000 draftees are recruited via a combination of conscription and voluntary enrolment.
In the past decade, the number of volunteers has steadily increased. Between 2015 to 2018, the annual number of volunteers represented about 40% of all draftees. The bill wants to promote this voluntary enrolment system by making it easier to recruit them. It would lower the minimum age of recruits to 18 from 21 and extend their length of service to a minimum of five years, which can be further extended for another five years. They could pursue their military career to be promoted to higher ranks and receive better fringe benefits up until the age of 46. A longer period of service would mean recruits were better trained in defence skills, resulting in a boon to the military.
The bill would also make it illegal for senior officers to use conscripts as their servants or abuse them. The best feature is that it would stop forcing young men to serve in the military against their will. Men aged 18 to 29 would still be listed as reservists for the cabinet to call upon through conscription for a maximum period of one year, but only if the country is threatened by war.
For more than a century, Thailand has kept conscription even though the country has not been at war in recent decades. Governments have spent about 12 billion baht each year on salaries for conscripts. It is time to let young men decide whether or not they want to serve in the military.