More Thai males will join the army voluntarily during the conscription season this year compared to last year, an assistant army spokesperson announced on Sunday.
Capt Juthapat Prembanyat said a total of 38,160 males nationwide volunteered to join the army from April 1 to 12 this year, which represents an increase of 2,543 people from the 35,617 volunteers last year.
Of the total, 24,025 people enlisted voluntarily at designated venues near their registered houses, while remaining 14,135 enlisted online.
The voluntary enlistment quota was fully met at five conscription venues: Chon Buri's Koh Si Chang district, Songkhla's Na Thawi district, Nakhon Pathom's Bang Len district, Nonthaburi's Pak Kret district and Bangkok's Bang Khae district.
"The army views the rise in the number of voluntary conscripts as a tangible success, which aligns with the government and defence ministry's policy to boost the number of conscripts in the voluntary system or eventually completely switch to a voluntary enlistment system in the future," Capt Juthapat said.