My son is a dual national (Thai Australian) he's 19 years old and has already graduated with a Bachelor Degree from Macquarie University in Sydney.

He registered in Khon Kaen today, however the officer told him that 'volunteering = 6 months' is only available if he graduated from a Thai university. I can only find that a 'university degree' is required, nothing about being restricted to Thailand institutions'.

 

 I  have already checked this site  https://www.thaicitizenship.com/thai-military-service/
"3) Volunteering after graduating from university

Following graduation, a university graduate is allowed to volunteer to join the armed forces prior to or on conscription day, and as a result only serve 6 months.

 

Could anyone clarify for us, please?

p.s The officer made it quite obvious to my son that there was another option = a financial gift. However, my son refused the offer.

 

Many thanks,
Seykota

 

OP, can I suggest you delete the attachment. Personal info.

2 minutes ago, PPGuy said:

OP, can I suggest you delete the attachment. Personal info.

Was just going to write the same but you beat me to it

7 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Was just going to write the same but you beat me to it

Reported it in the OPs interest.

Some Personal information has been removed from the first post as this is a public forum and anyone could steal the information and use it illegally.

 

 

 

 

.

Graduated from university at 19? Do tell. 

@OP > Am I correct that your son is volunteering because of the reduced conscription (6 months) when doing that?

Afaik the Thai military uses a lottery system, and there is a once a year district-gathering for those eligible for military service where they need to draw a paper which determines whether they are drafted or not. 

As this is Thailand even when you are unlucky and pick a 'drafted' ticket, there are ways of getting rid of it when providing a financial incentive to the right military persons. 

Found this:

"2) University/Post graduate studies

Whether in Thailand or overseas, further studies are an acceptable method of deferring your obligations to attend the lottery."

"3) Volunteering after graduating from university

Following graduation, a university graduate is allowed to volunteer to join the armed forces prior to or on conscription day, and as a result only serve 6 months. This is common for many Thai families who do see some merit in undertaking a short stint of Thai military service."

https://www.thaicitizenship.com/thai-military-service

 

3 hours ago, AustinRacing said:

Graduated from university at 19? Do tell. 

Yep impressive, an Aussie degree is minimum of 3 years and normally finishing high school is 18 so how did he did he graduate with degree at 19?

 

20 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

Yep impressive, an Aussie degree is minimum of 3 years and normally finishing high school is 18 so how did he did he graduate with degree at 19?

 

Possible, I did it.  Family moved from Hamilton to Ballarat, Victoria, in the early-mid 1960s.  The nearest Catholic school (which had both some primary levels (4-6) and secondary levels) was about 300 metres from home; the next nearest Catholic primary school was about 3-4 kms away.  At the time Grade 4 had only 5 students (for memory), and was run in conjuction with Grade 5.  Just before I finished Grade 5, parents of the students were informed that Grade 6 would not be offered at the school in the following year - parents had the choice of sending thier children to the other Catholic school (3-4 kms away), or thier children would be put up into Form 1; all parents, including my own, decided on the latter course.  Thus, essentially I skipped to 2 levels of primary school, and finished high school just before my 17th birthday.   Started university just after I turned 17, and finished all 3rd year exams and got my results before turning 20.  But at that time, graduation ceremonies at the university were held in April the year after completion, I had to formally graduate when I was just 20.

On 9/15/2023 at 1:49 PM, seykota said:

He registered in Khon Kaen today, however the officer told him that 'volunteering = 6 months' is only available if he graduated from a Thai university.

It's possible, I work in a field with higher qualifications available and we learned the hard way that graduates with Thai nationality with degrees from overseas universities are not allowed to progress with the qualification unless they have a Thai bachelors degree.

 

Archaic & dumb...

 

 

 

Thanks,
Actually, that makes sense = TiT

 

On 9/16/2023 at 10:37 AM, AustinRacing said:

Graduated from university at 19? Do tell. 

I taught Economics at universities in Thailand and China. We moved to Beijing when he was 11 and completed Yr 6 at a Bi-lingual school in Khon Kaen. Only the very expensive "international" schools in Beijing teach in English prior to Yr 9, thus as he could not speak Chinese, he studied Yr 9 (he was already a quite big lad for his age). His class went to a private school in Missouri, USA in Yr 10, to complete their US high school certificate. He completed Yr 10 in the USA at 13 yrs, purely due to circumstances.
 

When he returned to Beijing, I gave him the choice: 1. keep studying at his Beijing school or study online with Open Universities Australia  https://www.open.edu.au/ which does not have an age limit. He graduated last year (19 yrs + 1 month) with Bachelor degree in Entertainment Industries plus Minor in Ancient History from Macquarie University , Sydney Australia . He moved to Sydney as an "on-campus student in 2017 .

So there you go.

H

On 9/17/2023 at 10:47 AM, JimHuaHin said:

Possible, I did it.  Family moved from Hamilton to Ballarat, Victoria, in the early-mid 1960s.  The nearest Catholic school (which had both some primary levels (4-6) and secondary levels) was about 300 metres from home; the next nearest Catholic primary school was about 3-4 kms away.  At the time Grade 4 had only 5 students (for memory), and was run in conjuction with Grade 5.  Just before I finished Grade 5, parents of the students were informed that Grade 6 would not be offered at the school in the following year - parents had the choice of sending thier children to the other Catholic school (3-4 kms away), or thier children would be put up into Form 1; all parents, including my own, decided on the latter course.  Thus, essentially I skipped to 2 levels of primary school, and finished high school just before my 17th birthday.   Started university just after I turned 17, and finished all 3rd year exams and got my results before turning 20.  But at that time, graduation ceremonies at the university were held in April the year after completion, I had to formally graduate when I was just 20.

Yes. See below for my explanation re graduating at 19 yrs

So, OP, he could join the police force which would make him immune from the draft. As a degree holder he could get into OTS. Then, as an officer he would be eligible for "the trough". He (and you) could then open a gogo bar. With his degree in entertainment, he would be up on all the latest trends. With his minor in ancient history he would know all the pitfalls that caused past failures and avoid them and with your vast knowledge of economics, you could manage the weighing of the brown envelopes, keep bar fines competitive and make better deals with the booze distributors.

As an officer he would know in advance when the "crackdowns" were coming and as a Thai, he could own the whole business outright. (no "partners")

The mafia wouldn't touch him as he would belong to a larger mafia and as he moved up the officer ranks, his monthly envelopes would get bigger. (collected, not paid)

I don't think you need a degree to join the army.  If that is true then the army is screwed since barely anyone has finished highschool in Thailand.

55 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

I don't think you need a degree to join the army.  If that is true then the army is screwed since barely anyone has finished highschool in Thailand.

"... screwed since barely anyone has finished highschool in Thailand." 

 

Not true.

2 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

I don't think you need a degree to join the army.  If that is true then the army is screwed since barely anyone has finished highschool in Thailand.

I think what the OP is saying is that his son tried to get the reduced national service term (of 6 months) due to having a degree, rather than the full term, which is think is a year or two (?)

On 9/18/2023 at 8:52 AM, realfunster said:

 

Archaic & dumb...

 

I think you just up with a logan for the country.

https://www.thaicitizenship.com/thai-military-service/

 

The red ball/black ball lottery thing is absolutely hysterical. 

AFAIC this  thread is mind boggling.

On a serious note.

 

• Under British Law, and likely Australian Law, a British, and likely a Australian can only recognise that King Charles is their King and ONLY King, and likewise can only 'Fight For'. 
  • Comes under some treason law [Don't ask me which because it was years ago it came up].
  • Still in-force in the UK.

Exhibit: https://www.perthilj.com/blog/2019/2/20/are-british-subjects-subjects-of-the-queen-in-australian-constitutional-law

• Why on earth don't you just pay so he can avoid it? It's like 50,000 THB.
  • If you can't do that, send him there only speaking English, he doesn't know Thai.... they'd soon send him back.

 

If he is volunteering, he is aware the Thai military degrade their 'grunts' (drinking each others cum, piss etc), to break the spirit, for servitude? 

Exhibit: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/naval-officer-suspended-for-allegedly-forcing-conscripts-to-drink-diluted-semen/

 

 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

I don't think you need a degree to join the army.  If that is true then the army is screwed since barely anyone has finished highschool in Thailand.

Graduating from high school (at least) is now the norm in Thailand, though a few still do not. However, an inability to avoid conscription in Thailand suggests either poverty or a distinct mental retardation.

A lot of Thais try to avoid the draft by going to the Maa Nak temple on Soi Onnuch. From what Thai friends told me about Thai Army Basic Training was a bad and often humiliating experience. Maybe the OP's son is lucky. He has a bright future ahead  of him with or with out joining the Thai Armed Forces. Do some research.

5 hours ago, FruitPudding said:

https://www.thaicitizenship.com/thai-military-service/

 

The red ball/black ball lottery thing is absolutely hysterical. 

"hysterical" you think it's a joker show event?

7 hours ago, scorecard said:

"hysterical" you think it's a joker show event?

Did you read how they do it??

17 hours ago, Jenkins9039 said:

On a serious note.

 

• Under British Law, and likely Australian Law, a British, and likely a Australian can only recognise that King Charles is their King and ONLY King, and likewise can only 'Fight For'. 
  • Comes under some treason law [Don't ask me which because it was years ago it came up].
  • Still in-force in the UK.

Exhibit: https://www.perthilj.com/blog/2019/2/20/are-british-subjects-subjects-of-the-queen-in-australian-constitutional-law

• Why on earth don't you just pay so he can avoid it? It's like 50,000 THB.
  • If you can't do that, send him there only speaking English, he doesn't know Thai.... they'd soon send him back.

 

If he is volunteering, he is aware the Thai military degrade their 'grunts' (drinking each others cum, piss etc), to break the spirit, for servitude? 

Exhibit: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/naval-officer-suspended-for-allegedly-forcing-conscripts-to-drink-diluted-semen/

 

 

 

 

 

I agree. 

 

I don't understand the reluctance to pay to get out of the obligation. 

 

I understand the present administration also plans to end conscription (not just MFP, who didn't get into power) but it will probably take a few years before this pans out. It could happen by the end of their administration, but it will take time. For now, there are several options available, the easiest being paying to get out of it.

17 hours ago, Jenkins9039 said:

On a serious note.

 

• Under British Law, and likely Australian Law, a British, and likely a Australian can only recognise that King Charles is their King and ONLY King, and likewise can only 'Fight For'. 
  • Comes under some treason law [Don't ask me which because it was years ago it came up].
  • Still in-force in the UK.

Exhibit: https://www.perthilj.com/blog/2019/2/20/are-british-subjects-subjects-of-the-queen-in-australian-constitutional-law

• Why on earth don't you just pay so he can avoid it? It's like 50,000 THB.
  • If you can't do that, send him there only speaking English, he doesn't know Thai.... they'd soon send him back.

 

If he is volunteering, he is aware the Thai military degrade their 'grunts' (drinking each others cum, piss etc), to break the spirit, for servitude? 

Exhibit: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/naval-officer-suspended-for-allegedly-forcing-conscripts-to-drink-diluted-semen/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not to mention the forced mask wearing and mandatory vaccinations they're given upon enlisting (not Covid, but a whole list of others).