any updates on this year'sThai military draft and surge of volunteers maybe canceling the lottery??

[jaideeguy]

Our Thai son will be returning from the US to fulfill his obligation to participate in the military lottery and my wife [his Mom] has been following the news because of that. We have even booked and paid for his return ticket, quarantine etc.  

Her latest news report to me is that with the economy so bad there has been a big surge in volunteers.  Says that 18,000 volunteers and the army's quota is 20,000 so we're hoping that the quota will be met and his trip back will be in vain.  

Is there any truth to her [translated to me] news or any other news pertaining to this year's lottery draw and the situation on ground there in LOS?  

Feel free to post on this topic or to PM me if you have any [real/not fake] news regarding this.

She also says that if the quota is filled he still has to return to get the paperwork from the military that will give him legal status.

Thanks in advance for any real news and the source of the info,

[Kwasaki]

A friend of mine has a Thai son in UK and has had no notification from anyone.

 

Does you son want to go back to Thailand and do his military service.?

 

Did you get notification from Thailand or the Thai Embassy that you son is required to return to Thailand to take part in the military lottery. ?

[gosamgo]

I wonder if I can come in on this and state my own case to see if I can get some advice?

We have just received notification from the District Recruiter here in Pattaya that our son has to come forward for the selection parade? The problem is that our soon is at university in Scotland and will be there for some years to come. I have to admit my lapse of memory that nobody was told about this! My son has Thai Passport and also Irish Passport. He has been in the UK since he was 8 years old and his D.O B is 24.11.2000. Is there anyway we can fix this, so that should he return in the distant future he won't have to sign up for the Army?

[connda]

Tell the kid to volunteer for the Air Force.  He'll go though basic training (everybody should go through basic imho <laughs>) then he'll probably be cut loose.  Many of the kids who volunteer for the Air Force actually want to stay in.  It's highly competitive. 
Better than getting drafted into the Army then ending up in a province on the Maylay border.
I doubt they will scrap the lottery.  But how knows.  Best of luck.

[jaideeguy]

As I understand it, all Thai boys/men at age 21 are required by law to report for the military draft.  My [adopted] son has been able to get a deferment from his yearly reporting by submitting evidence translated into Thai that he is attending college abroad.  He graduated last year and now has to fulfill his obligation.  He doesn't want to give up his Thai citizenship so he is fulfilling the obligation to avoid future ramifications for 'dodging the draft'.

We're hoping that with the higher number of volunteers, his odds of being chosen will be lower. 

 

My son's date of drawing is 1 April for his province and according to my wife, it's a 1 time thing and if he is lucky, he'll be free after that.

I would like to find out the latest numbers of volunteers so far..............would anyone know where I could get accurate and latest figures of total volunteers?

[gosamgo]

I wonder if I can come in on this and state my own case to see if I can get some advice?

We have just received notification from the District Recruiter here in Pattaya that our son has to come forward for the selection parade? The problem is that our soon is at university in Scotland and will be there for some years to come. I have to admit my lapse of memory that nobody was told about this! My son has Thai Passport and also Irish Passport. He has been in the UK since he was 8 years old and his D.O B is 24.11.2000. Is there anyway we can fix this, so that should he return in the distant future he won't have to sign up for the Army?

Thank you Guys for your response. Yesterday, I knew little on the subject, but now I'm a little bit wiser? Is there anything published or available in English that one can get hold of? It would help me make an informed decision if I knew more?

[daveAustin]

^^ Simply download and fill in the deferment (waiver) from the embassy site based on being/studying overseas. You do this annually and send it back to the district office. With that, op did not need to send son back if he was overseas and studying. In theory, you could do that every year until no longer eligible at 30yrs. Reason they picked up on it is because your son is on the tabien baan.

https://london.thaiembassy.org/

If can't find the page there, email below. They're pretty useful.

csinfo at thaiembassyuk. org. uk

 

[marc26]

On 2/22/2021 at 6:26 AM, connda said:

Tell the kid to volunteer for the Air Force.  He'll go though basic training (everybody should go through basic imho <laughs>) then he'll probably be cut loose.  Many of the kids who volunteer for the Air Force actually want to stay in.  It's highly competitive. 
Better than getting drafted into the Army then ending up in a province on the Maylay border.
I doubt they will scrap the lottery.  But how knows.  Best of luck.

My stepson went for the Air Force Academy, but that may be different than just enlisting in the Air Force?

Anyways, it was something my wife really wanted, like really wanted!

But from all indications, they expect a huge bribe to get accepted

Again, that may be in regards to just the Academy

[jaideeguy]

a [terrible] update..................

Boy [a man now] showed up for the drawing of the cards and was not so lucky as we were hoping...................he drew a big RED, but his date for duty is in November. The good thing is that gives him some breathing room [and time to fret].  Mama wants him to get on the next plane to come home [the US is his chosen home now] and after reading some recent reports on life as a recruit in the Thai army, I am with her on that.

 

read a frightening story   https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/03/thailand-military-conscripts-face-rampant-harassment-beatings-sexual-abuse/

 

would you want your son to deal with that?

 

Hypothetically,  IF he does get on a one way flight back to the US, what would the ramifications be and are there any dangers like being 'red flagged' at the airport on his way out, etc?? 

[daveAustin]

That sucks. If he did that there would be ramifications if and when he returned. Aside from potentially being arrested, there would be issues in obtaining work, owning property etc as he did not 'do his duty'. Did you not try the money-under-table option? You could try enrolling him at uni in US and showing army the paperwork, though fear now he's been selected you're locked in. He may do well. Get him on a muuay thai course and toughen right up. First douche that has a go, knock the snot out of them and he'll be considered a hard a$$ and left alone.

If you really wanted to run (not recommended), would be best off doing a short 'return' trip to, say, Singapore well before entry date... and moving on from there. But, as I say, go down that road and he'll scupper future life chances in Thailand.

 

We have an issue in that son wants to enroll in British forces, but to do that he needs the exemption from Thai military so will have to do one of the above. Hoping army is ousted by then and someone with sense gets in. Shame FF Party was nobbled as they would have abolished the nonsense.

Edited April 7, 2021 by daveAustin