A former conscript's video depicting his navy life as an officer's indentured house servant, including washing his wife's underwear, has drawn grudging confirmation from the Defence Ministry.
The video was initially dismissed as a possible attempt to discredit the armed forces ahead of the annual compulsory draft in April, at a time when there are demands to end conscription.
Defence spokesman RAdm Thanitpong Sirisawetsak said on Monday the ministry was trying to contact the former navy sailor who posted the video about his time as a servant conscript, and would consider possible action against the officer concerned.
The man who posted the short video was conscripted into the navy and left after his time was served, the spokesman confirmed.
The video appeared on the E Saw Khayi Khaw Facebook account on Sunday. It shows what he had to endure while working as a servant for an officer. This included being ordered to wash and dry the officer's wife's underwear and place them into a basket.
"Let's see my life, my days as a conscript and what I was doing," he says in the clip. "My goodness! I have to wash the panties and bras of the wife of my boss. It's real."
"That's my life," he added.
He said he also had to wash socks, and the video shows the dishes he would have to wash and the bottles of spirits he had to clear away. (continues below)
A screen capture from the former navy conscript's video shows some of the woman's underwear he had to wash during his time as a servant for a senior officer. (Photo: E Saw Khayi Khaw Facebook account)
After the clip went viral on social media, RAdm Thanitpong initially said the ministry could not confirm whether it was real or made up and posted to discredit the armed forces ahead of the annual military draft.
He later admitted after making checks that it was made by a former navy conscript.
The annual draft ballot this year is from April 1-12 excluding April 6, which is Chakri Dynasty Day, a public holiday.
The armed forces have offered a variety or rewards for young men who volunteer instead of taking their chances in the drawing a ballot ball.
A poster on the Facebook account of the 20th Military Circle in October said that recruits receive a salary, education, life insurance, health benefits and skills training, among other benefits.
In reality, many end up working as servants in the homes of senior officers and their families, doing cooking, cleaning and gardening.
The National Human Rights Commission has urged the armed forces to end the practice, saying it is a misuse of the conscripts, who are drafted to defend the nation not to clean officers' homes.
The Move Forward Party, which leads the opposition in parliament, also has a policy to end compulsory conscription and replace it with a fully volunteer, professional defence force.