Video: "What is gran going to do without me?": Conscript in tears after the dreaded Red Card

[webfact]

Video: "What is gran going to do without me?": Conscript in tears after the dreaded Red Card

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

A Thai man pulled out the Red Card in the army draft pick that meant he would have to do two years in the army.

 

He could barely stand as he was supported by others to complete his paperwork at a desk.

 

Many thought it was hilarious - some even laughed out loud at the man's obvious horror at being chosen.

 

But he recounted his story later to someone who posted online.

 

He said: "Why did it have to be me - why couldn't they choose someone who doesn't have responsibilities?

 

"How is my grandmother going to live now? It's just me and her...and she has just got out of hospital".

 

The man recounted how he was abandoned by his parents as a child and has lived his life with his gran. He said that he and his gran lived just the two of them and he was her only means of support.

 

"Before I left to come here she said: 'Don't leave me - I only have you'", he added as the tears flowed at the prospect of joining the Thai military for service.

 

The story was posted on Facebook on the page of Art Tua Por.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-04-19

 

[robblok]

That is tough for the guy.. conscription is just bad.. a smaller professional army is far better.

 

The army is waste of time. (for those who don't want to join) 

 

Happy i never had to serve.

Edited April 19, 2018 by robblok

[webfact]

Army promises help for worried conscript with ailing grandma

By The Nation

 

Army spokesman Col Winthai Suvaree

 

The commander of the Bangkok-based 11th Army Circle promised on Thursday to assign soldiers to take care of an elderly woman whose conscripted grandson will be unable do so.

 

Maj Gen Piyapong Klinphan was responding to a video posted online the day before showing Saksit Srisunthorn in tears because he has to enter military service and “abandon” his grandmother.

 

Army chief Gen Chalermchai Sitthisart and First Army Area Commander Lt Gen Kukiart Srinakha both saw the video and instructed officials in charge of the draft to see what could be done.

 

Another Army officer posted the video on Facebook as “Art Tua Por”. Showing the then-unidentified conscript breaking down and requiring assistance to sign draft documents, the clip was viewed more than 2.4 million times in less than 24 hours.

 

The posting officer explained that the conscript was worried that, with him in the armed forces, his ailing 75-year-old grandma had no one to take care of her.

 

Piyapong said the conscript had subsequently been identified as Saksit, a resident of Bangkok’s Phasi Charoen district.

 

Piyapong said Saksit waived his right to delay entry into the military and drew a red card in the conscription lottery, meaning he will begin his two-year hitch at the 11th Army Circle on Rama V Road in Dusit district on November 1.

 

It was confirmed that Saksit is his family’s primary breadwinner and takes care of his grandma and two middle-aged aunts – one of whom is also ailing – as well as a teenage nephew attending school.

 

Piyapong promised that both Saksit and his grandmother would be taken care of well.

 

Army spokesman Col Winthai Suvaree added that, if necessary, Saksit could take leave from duty to attend to his grandma.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30343465

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-04-19

[Bluespunk]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Many thought it was hilarious - some even laughed out loud at the man's obvious horror at being chosen.

****s

[BigBadGeordie]

22 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

Army spokesman Col Winthai Suvaree added that, if necessary, Saksit could take leave from duty to attend to his grandma.

Just give the lad a special exemption on compassionate grounds.

 

It can't be that hard?

[thaifan01]

Looks like they found a solution that will work well for all parties, well done!    

[tomta]

They'll probably have him  washing some general's car or doing the gardening while he could be looking after his mum. Conscription is there to provide the useless generals with power and the muscle for coups.

[freebyrd]

35 minutes ago, thaifan01 said:

Looks like they found a solution that will work well for all parties, well done!    

I don't agree. His Grandma being taken care of by strangers? I did 20 years in the army by choice, as long as his story can be verified they should give him an exemption.

[dunroaming]

6 hours ago, robblok said:

That is tough for the guy.. conscription is just bad.. a smaller professional army is far better.

 

The army is waste of time. (for those who don't want to join) 

 

Happy i never had to serve.

I missed conscription in the UK by quiet a few years, thank god!

Anyway we have a son who will come of age for conscription in Thailand in about four years time.  It was something my wife flagged up last year.  Nothing to worry about though because his Thai grandparents would pay to have him made exempt.  Apparently it is easy enough to do as is anything in Thailand as long as you have the money to do it.

 

However we don't live in Thailand anymore and before we came to the UK his Thai passport ran out and was not renewed.  He has a UK passport and after the age of 18 he chooses whether to keep that and give up his Thai  citizenship or the other way round.  Bit of a no brainer.  

[kaorop]

give her a fake watch, says chanowit and tell her to apply for the bankrupt corrupted program for the destitute.. granny can learn to suck eggs ...

[maprao]

I missed conscription in the UK by quiet a few years, thank god!

Anyway we have a son who will come of age for conscription in Thailand in about four years time.  It was something my wife flagged up last year.  Nothing to worry about though because his Thai grandparents would pay to have him made exempt.  Apparently it is easy enough to do as is anything in Thailand as long as you have the money to do it.

 

However we don't live in Thailand anymore and before we came to the UK his Thai passport ran out and was not renewed.  He has a UK passport and after the age of 18 he chooses whether to keep that and give up his Thai  citizenship or the other way round.  Bit of a no brainer.  

Renew his Thai passport

Tell him stay in the UK until he older than 30 (21 to 30) By then he will be too old for the draft

 

 

 

 

 

[Thongkorn]

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

****s

My son inlaw has just done his two years . Some of the things he has told me are just unbelievable. It’s no wonder guys abscond . Some have a young family . They have fought and found reasonable jobs, They get drafted into pointless service, No trade or skills are taught. so they could be of use when getting out after their two years service,  And when they get out the job has gone.Some have to leave and let their spouse fend for themselves Because the army does not provide for them. the going rate is suppose to be 300 baht every day, But he only revived 5000 baht a month.how the hell is solider and his wife suppose to manage on that. Also many beatings go on by bully officers which  cannot be reported. The whole draft procedure wants looking at. But I suppose as always inThailand if you have 30,000 baht you can buy your way out . Not a lot for big money people but the world to the poor.

[dunroaming]

2 minutes ago, maprao said:

Renew his Thai passport

Tell him stay in the UK until he older than 30 (21 to 30) By then he will be too old for the draft

 

 

 

 

 

In Thai law you cannot have duel nationality after the age of eighteen (though many do) so he has to choose.  Would he really want to give up a British passport for a Thai one!  Not if he has a brain.  However it doesn't stop him visiting Thailand or even living there if he chooses to.

 

If he does renew his Thai passport and then just doesn't turn up for the draw then he would be arrested the next time he arrived in Thailand.  I have done the research on this.

[dunroaming]

6 minutes ago, Thongkorn said:

Also many beatings go on by bully officers which  cannot be reported. The whole draft procedure wants looking at. But I suppose as always inThailand if you have 30,000 baht you can buy your way out . Not a lot for big money people but the world to the poor.

Very true although I am told that 20,000 baht will do the trick.  As far as the beatings and bullying goes, it is (apparently) much harder for the half caste boys, as in Euro/Asians. 

[Odysseus123]

I would have paid 30,000 baht for the army to have red-carded my useless Thai stepson...but the overly intelligent fellas rejected him.

 

In actual fact I would pay much more than that for the 3rd Songsam and YaBa Battalion to be activated in this village and marched off to Buddha knows where (who cares?)

 

Sooner or later every Thai male reaches his breaking point and who does he scream for but his gran.his mother,his aunties, sisters and nieces.. anyone who can change his diapers for him?

 

Buzz off-become a man.

[tifino]

 

there may just be some natural truth in all this...

 

... who does a hopeless Somchai often crawl to?

 when he wants money from... but without having to work for it

[JAG]

6 minutes ago, Thongkorn said:

My son inlaw has just done his two years . Some of the things he has told me are just unbelievable. It’s no wonder guys abscond . Some have a young family . They have fought and found reasonable jobs, They get drafted into pointless service, No trade or skills are taught. so they could be of use when getting out after their two years service,  And when they get out the job has gone.Some have to leave and let their spouse fend for themselves Because the army does not provide for them. the going rate is suppose to be 300 baht every day, But he only revived 5000 baht a month.how the hell is solider and his wife suppose to manage on that. Also many beatings go on by bully officers which  cannot be reported. The whole draft procedure wants looking at. But I suppose as always inThailand if you have 30,000 baht you can buy your way out . Not a lot for big money people but the world to the poor.

My Stepson finished his last year. As a retired professional soldier I took a close interest in what he did, or frankly didn't do. He was lucky, his Regiment didn't go in for bullying. It was however a complete waste of time. He did virtually no coherent training, hung around camp in between guard, growing vegetables (!) and going on leave, which seemed to be for ten days every month or so. On one memorable occasion he returned to his unit after leave only to be sent home for a fortnight because they had no rations to feed the soldiers! His pay could be (generously) described as erratic and certainly never came anywhere near what he was supposed to receive. In his entire service he went on the ranges twice and spent 48 hours in the field. 

Still, he had a red beret and para wings - he was in what was described as a "special forces Regiment"!

 

As this unfortunate fellow seems to be the breadwinner for his grandmother, sick aunt and nephew, he, and Thailand, would be far, far better served if he were told to stay at home and look after them. He doesn't want to go to be a soldier, and there is no need for him to go to be a soldier. He wouldn't be any use as a soldier any way.

[TerryLH]

31 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

He has a UK passport and after the age of 18 he chooses whether to keep that and give up his Thai  citizenship or the other way round.  Bit of a no brainer.

 

15 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

In Thai law you cannot have duel nationality after the age of eighteen (though many do) so he has to choose.  Would he really want to give up a British passport for a Thai one!  Not if he has a brain.  However it doesn't stop him visiting Thailand or even living there if he chooses to.

 

If he does renew his Thai passport and then just doesn't turn up for the draw then he would be arrested the next time he arrived in Thailand.  I have done the research on this.

Apparently your research was flawed.  There is no law that prohibits dual nationality.  The info you are probably referring to allows him to give up his Thai nationality at 18, but does not require it.

 

You should contact the Thai Embassy/Consulate where he lives and ask for an exemption because he lives abroad.

 

Terry

 

[The manic]

6 hours ago, robblok said:

That is tough for the guy.. conscription is just bad.. a smaller professional army is far better.

 

The army is waste of time. (for those who don't want to join) 

 

Happy i never had to serve.

We stopped conscription in the UK because it taught working class people how to organise small criminal gangs.

[Yann55]

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Many thought it was hilarious - some even laughed out loud at the man's obvious horror at being chosen.

****s

 

Schadenfreude ... OK, it's universal, but seems to be more frequent and common in this country. I have lived in Thailand for many years yet I still can't wrap my mind around it. I bet I'm not the only expat here who finds this attitude extremely disturbing.

[dunroaming]

38 minutes ago, TerryLH said:

 

Apparently your research was flawed.  There is no law that prohibits dual nationality.  The info you are probably referring to allows him to give up his Thai nationality at 18, but does not require it.

 

You should contact the Thai Embassy/Consulate where he lives and ask for an exemption because he lives abroad.

 

Terry

 

Thanks for that input Terry.   The implications for this scenario was actually mainly researched by my brother-in-law who is a police major so consequently knows little about the law!  I am not being satirical.  However we did sit down with the family lawyer and it is a little more complex than the normal case.  My son's grandparents have given my son some land that, through a trust arrangement, will be in his name from his eighteenth birthday. Therefore even if he is not in Thailand at the time of his eligibility for call up he will still be accountable.  We have asked them to cancel the land gift because apart from anything else if he gives up his Thai nationality he won't be allowed to own land anyway.  However they have refused to do that as they are keen for him to remain a Thai citizen. Families eh!

 

We were also told (actually when he was born in Chiang Mai) about him not being allowed dual nationality after the age of 18.  This was born out by our neighbours who's son had both a Norwegian and Thai passport.  They tried hard for him to keep both and of course the Norwegian government (as with the British too) were fine with that but not the Thai authorities.  Of course this was fourteen years ago and may have changed, although not according to the lawyer.

 

One thing I have learned in Thailand is that there is always different interpretations of the law depending on who you talk to on the day.

Edited April 19, 2018 by dunroaming

[55Jay]

I'm sure these Army guys have seen and heard every excuse in the book.  Even if his story isn't true in full or in part, he's totally unmotivated and not going to be worth a chit.  Prime candidate for going AWOL and/or Sergeant Somchai's after-hours motivation training.

 

Thailand ought to bring it down a notch to a compulsory reserve force, then focus on a smaller, better trained primary force to play with all the new toys on order.   And do away with this annual card pulling spectacle,  which is part TV game show, part amateur beauty pageant for narcissistic lady boys.

 

[klauskunkel]

Some Thais like to say to foreigners: "This is my country, if you don't like it, leave."

Fair enough.

"This is your country, if you don't like it, change it."

[maprao]

Apparently your research was flawed.  There is no law that prohibits dual nationality.  The info you are probably referring to allows him to give up his Thai nationality at 18, but does not require it.

 

You should contact the Thai Embassy/Consulate where he lives and ask for an exemption because he lives abroad.

 

Terry

 

Thanks Terry my thoughts exactly. We have a couple of TV members who did just what I suggested. Return to Thailand after 30. They have stopped posting because people contradict them at every post despite having been through the process....

 

The choice of citizenship can be made as you suggest.Contacting the nearest Thai embassy to inform them you are overseas is the way to go.

 

With regards to the previous poster referring to land, Lawyers and policemen I think I have to say careful what you believe sounds like maybe it was an attempt for the gift to go to another person...

 

 

 

 

 

[leeneeds]

1 hour ago, Odysseus123 said:

Sooner or later every Thai male reaches his breaking point and who does he scream for but his gran.his mother,his aunties, sisters and nieces.. anyone who can change his diapers for him?

 

Buzz off-become a man.

I think he showed he is a man , filled in the paper work never complained , it was only afterwards that his situation came to light, 

 

 

[Odysseus123]

4 minutes ago, leeneeds said:

I think he showed he is a man , filled in the paper work never complained , it was only afterwards that his situation came to light, 

 

 

Of course..

 

Off he goes..marching to glory without any form of complaint whatsoever.

 

It  is probably the first thought that he has ever considered "Gran" in his entire life other than exploiting her..

 

Of course,I could be wrong as my village may be different.If you find any male Thai altruists in your neighbourhood please PM me.

Edited April 19, 2018 by Odysseus123

[dunroaming]

2 minutes ago, maprao said:

Thanks Terry my thoughts exactly. We have a couple of TV members who did just what I suggested. Return to Thailand after 30. They have stopped posting because people contradict them at every post despite having been through the process....

The choice if citizenship can be made as you suggest.Contacting the nearest Thai embassy to inform them you are overseas is the way to go.

With regards to the previous poster referring to land, Lawyers and policemen I think I have to say careful what you believe sounds like maybe it was an attempt for the gift to go to another person...

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

OK.  Fair enough if you think it is acceptable to go down the route of denying your child to right to go to Thailand until after they are 30 years of age.  Doesn't work for us as my son should be able to travel to Thailand to see his Thai relatives and holiday any time he wants to.  I prefer my way where he will have no restrictions whatsoever.

 

As for the comments concerning my families lawyer (who I have had for over sixteen years and is a good friend) and my in-laws then you clearly know nothing about our relationship.  You may have experienced the type of scenarios that you refer to but my family (luckily) are as straight and as honest as they come.

 

[TerryLH]

14 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

Fair enough if you think it is acceptable to go down the route of denying your child to right to go to Thailand until after they are 30 years of age.  Doesn't work for us as my son should be able to travel to Thailand to see his Thai relatives and holiday any time he wants to. 

They draw from those who are listed in a tambian ban.  If not in one, then they won't have their name drawn.  

[dunroaming]

5 minutes ago, TerryLH said:

They draw from those who are listed in a tambian ban.  If not in one, then they won't have their name drawn.  

You are correct.  At the moment he is registered at his Grandparents house but we are taking him off.  The land issue should not be an issue but the lawyer says that it could be used to put pressure on if the authorities decided to be difficult.  It's a belt and braces thing and is not worth risking.  However it is all pie in the sky as he will give up his Thai citizenship when he is eighteen so will not be eligible to own the land.  His grandmother is not happy with him giving up his Thai status but that can be dealt with over time.  My wife is relaxed about what he wants to do and understands that a British passport is far more relevant than a Thai one. 

[Tilacme]

2 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

I would have paid 30,000 baht for the army to have red-carded my useless Thai stepson...but the overly intelligent fellas rejected him.

 

In actual fact I would pay much more than that for the 3rd Songsam and YaBa Battalion to be activated in this village and marched off to Buddha knows where (who cares?)

 

Sooner or later every Thai male reaches his breaking point and who does he scream for but his gran.his mother,his aunties, sisters and nieces.. anyone who can change his diapers for him?

 

Buzz off-become a man.

I hear what you say but i think i know what you mean