The army has apologised for ordering a bed-ridden man to appear at a conscription venue in the northern province of Lamphun on Saturday to prove he is unqualified for the draft.
Col Rungkhun Mahapanyawong, spokesman for the Third Army, said on Sunday that mid-last month a parent of Thanakrit Wuthiraithong, a 21-year-old native of Lamphun's Muang district, reported the young man was hit by a car and would not be able to appear for conscription at a district auditorium on Saturday as ordered because the accident had left him bed-ridden.
The military recruiting officer of Muang district then ordered the parent to bring the son to the conscription venue so that the inured man could be removed from the military conscription list.
The officer asked a local municipal office to deploy an emergency medicine vehicle to transport the man to the conscription venue.
Conscription officers found the bed-ridden man's skull was dented, disqualfiying him from conscription. The process was expedited and concluded in ten minutes on Saturday morning, Col Rungkhun said.
"The process, though complying with law, caused trouble to the parent and Mr Thanakrit because of his difficult physical condition. The Third Army apologises to both and already rerprimanded all officers concerned," the regional army spokesman said.
For people with such difficulties, the army would from now on send recruiting officers to conduct physical examinations at their homes or hospitals, he said.