4 hours ago, webfact said:

because the three armed forces are currently more than 100,000 personnel short of their full complement,

Their shortfall is greater than the entire number of miltary personnel in the whole of the UK, a country with a similar sized population!

The problems Thailand has is due to the army.  The army needs to be scaled back for it to stop meddling in Thailand's peacetime government. 

 

Nobody calls this usurper on anything.  He talks without being questioned at all.  Taiwan, which dumped its conscription, and has real threat, has around 300k active and reserves.    Thailand is double that.  Thailand will never change unless people engage this and other numpties like him in debate. 





 

Simple............A General would say that wouldn't he.............

My Nephew was drafted, while in training was abused to the point he ended up in ICU for two weeks "Unconscious" and has never been the same!!! 

What the nation really needs to do, is to stop listening to anything this man has to say. When was the last time he said something reasonable and sensible? When was the last time he proposed something that was of benefit to the masses, and actually stuck with it, rather than his usual daily rants and promises, that materialize into nothingness?

 

Why does Thailand need an army with more than 50,000 men? What for? What and who are the real current threats to its security? 

Not sure why so many posters here are getting bent out of shape by the utterings of the Thai PM, on subject that only matters to Thais and in which, unless they have kids here, they have no input.  Its a matter for Thailand  folks so chill and go back to worrying about things that do matter to expats, like visa and extension issues.   

No need for conscription in Thailand or anywhere else, no country needs a military at all is the bottom line. If all of us universal soldiers flat refused to murder innocent women and children because someone told us to then there would be no wars. Don't blame the military leaders blame yourself for not taking responsibility for your own actions.

 

 

6 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

What the nation really needs to do, is to stop listening to anything this man has to say. When was the last time he said something reasonable and sensible? When was the last time he proposed something that was of benefit to the masses, and actually stuck with it, rather than his usual daily rants and promises, that materialize into nothingness?

 

Why does Thailand need an army with more than 50,000 men? What for? What and who are the real current threats to its security? 

No, what expats need to do is stop listening to him and what he has to say, unless it impacts them, which this does not. 

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand’s PM insists military conscription is still needed

Of course it is.. it's the only way to stay in complete control.

He now has monopoly in the government, and has control of the army.

Dictator.

5 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

Because no one wants to volunteer for the bull <deleted> they call the military. 

It would seem 30% do ; according to the OP.  Of course, that is Thai math at work there I'm guessing so you may well be correct. ????

50 minutes ago, kamahele said:

With decent pay and benefits, conscription isn't needed as we've found out in the US. Your won't get rich but the benefits aren't bad if you stick it out for the long term. Even those in the short term can get an education through the military to use outside the system once they leave.

Better than you describe; 90% of those professional soldiers are there to support the ten percent that fight.

5 hours ago, colinneil said:

Of course conscription is still needed, without it the bullying generals would have no lackies to clean their houses/ cars, or tend their gardens.

And the huge budgets to skim off!! ????????????????

Imagine trying to run a coup without enough troops...

Thanathorn, rather than shouting about the straight abolishment of conscription came forward a sensible, thought out plan. Prayut, as usual, as belligerent and unreasoned as ever. 

Thailand's armed forces will never recruit sufficient numbers of volunteer members until the issue of 'buying an entry ticket' to join is dealt with. Know what I mean?

5 hours ago, webfact said:

When they turn 20 they draw lots to decide whether they will be enlisted or can avoid the draft. “Drawing lots of black and red tickets is one of the choices and this is social justice.

Forced labour is social justice?

 

How about making voluntary enlistment a more appealing option rather than the literal bullet to dodge? On my two observations of local conscription lotteries, it is a very distressing and traumatic time for thousands of Thai mums... not so much the kids and their dads. In more developed nations, enlistment can be a way to fund higher education or a future tradesman's career development. Our neighbors kid got the wrong color on his draft but ended up with the navy and apart from some deployments as 'border guards' living rough on islands offshore Sattahip for a month, polishing the railings on a broken aircraft carrier and taking gate fees at some Samaesan beaches, he had an easy time of it and gained about 5 kg! But he didn't appear to gain any skills or other benefits that helped him get a higher step on the social or economic ladder.

48 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

What the nation really needs to do, is to stop listening to anything this man has to say. When was the last time he said something reasonable and sensible? When was the last time he proposed something that was of benefit to the masses, and actually stuck with it, rather than his usual daily rants and promises, that materialize into nothingness?

 

Why does Thailand need an army with more than 50,000 men? What for? What and who are the real current threats to its security? 

Without trying to support Prayut (or even steven100) I would say that his infrastructure projects are of benefit to the masses, as was the shop eat spend programme, whatever it's called. Now whether they warrant the sums paid is a different matter. I would however agree with your comment that most of what he says is not "reasonable and sensible".

 

Also are you a zero short on your army figures?

50 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

Not sure why so many posters here are getting bent out of shape by the utterings of the Thai PM, on subject that only matters to Thais and in which, unless they have kids here, they have no input.  Its a matter for Thailand  folks so chill and go back to worrying about things that do matter to expats, like visa and extension issues.   

Maybe because these posters, not unlike me, have sympathy for the natives of their adopted country.

Maybe because these posters, not unlike me, detest lies, hypocrisy, bullying, intimidation, cheating, abusing ....... and the magnanimous attitude.

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

Their shortfall is greater than the entire number of miltary personnel in the whole of the UK, a country with a similar sized population!

Yeah, but the generals' gardens are bigger in Thailand. 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand’s PM insists military conscription is still needed

 

Typo. Should read :

 

Thailand's PM insists military corruption is still needed.

Who else is going to drive generals around and cut their grass. Got to justify all the generals some way????

I think for some people the military puts them back on track.

such as my twin brother he was always in some kind of trouble.

job opportunities tapped out, joined the military and made it 

a career.

23 minutes ago, neeray said:

Maybe because these posters, not unlike me, have sympathy for the natives of their adopted country.

Maybe because these posters, not unlike me, detest lies, hypocrisy, bullying, intimidation, cheating, abusing ....... and the magnanimous attitude.

well maybe that the difference between us.  I have not 'adopted' Thailand.  It's where my wife was born and raised and where I spend a goodly amount of my time on a "temporary, max one year, extension of stay", but it is not my country, as they make very plain to me every time I visit Immigration, or have any other interaction with Government. Lies, hypocrisy, bullying, etc go on in all cultures, mine in the UK included. 

28 minutes ago, neeray said:

Maybe because these posters, not unlike me, have sympathy for the natives of their adopted country.

Maybe because these posters, not unlike me, detest lies, hypocrisy, bullying, intimidation, cheating, abusing ....... and the magnanimous attitude.

+1

1 hour ago, Pilotman said:

Not sure why so many posters here are getting bent out of shape by the utterings of the Thai PM, on subject that only matters to Thais and in which, unless they have kids here, they have no input.  Its a matter for Thailand  folks so chill and go back to worrying about things that do matter to expats, like visa and extension issues.   

Because I assume that many of the posters know people whose sons were conscripted. Members of their wives'/girlfriends' families perhaps. Or even their own children had to go through the rigmarole of postponement while they studied before finally having to go through the draw. Just because people are not Thai does not mean they do not have a horse in the race.  

“Drawing lots of black and red tickets is one of the choices and this is social justice".

 

So says a social justice warrior who seized power by overthrowing a legitimately elected government and clings to it like a leech?

 

 

32 minutes ago, neeray said:

Maybe because these posters, not unlike me, have sympathy for the natives of their adopted country.

Maybe because these posters, not unlike me, detest lies, hypocrisy, bullying, intimidation, cheating, abusing ....... and the magnanimous attitude.

Yes, that last illusion of magnanimity where once again when it comes to the utterances of this maladminstration, the ultimate take away is, "It's good for you because I say it is good for you."

Well, at least we can be assured that he has no vested interest in keeping the military fat and that he is acting in the best interests of the country. 

3 hours ago, JRG23 said:

What he actually means is that the army will not be able to protect the government from the people. 

This is actually very perceptive. The only thing Thailand actually needs to defend it self from is internal unrest. 

 

Over the past 20+ years I can only recall few external issues, ie temple land disputes with Cambodia, those pesky rohinga, etc that required military intervention. 

 

Who is actually threatening Thailand 8n this day and age? 

 

Internal deployments have however been numerous.