Caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is also defence minister, said his policy is to provide army conscripts with opportunities to improve their education, occupational training and the discipline to be valued members of society.
Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Gen Prayut said he was pleased to learn that for some areas of the military there was more volunteer enlistment than needed this year.
Enlisted men were an essential part of every squad, platoon, company or battalion, in addition to non-commissioned and commissioned officers, he said. However, they must undergo training and there were courses for soldiers serving in as many as 16 different areas of the military.
"It has long been my policy to uplift the education of draftees. Some of them have to take a non-formal education course during their two years in military service. They must be trained to be disciplined, so that they can be good family leaders.
"I attach importance to giving them occupational training before being discharged. Some of them can further apply to be permanent staff in the armed forces, as non-commissioned officers. I cannot imagine how we would be without them. No country in the world is without soldiers," said Gen Prayut, who served as commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army from 2010 to 2014 and staged a coup in May 2014 that toppled the Pheu Thai Party.