Hi..

Can anyone tell me what age the Thai Army calls up guys to join.. and how do they do it..?

ChrisP

Hi..

Can anyone tell me what age the Thai Army calls up guys to join.. and how do they do it..?

ChrisP

Hi ChrisP

Believe the age is 21 - not exactly sure of the procedure though. Someone told me something about a guessing game - guess the right option and you get let off (think it's something like that, can't remember the details - hopefully the wiser members know a bit more about it).

The process works by a lottery - literally, by picking colored balls from a opaque container. Pick red - and you are subject to duty. Pick black, and you are excuesd.

But - even if you pick red, you may not need to serve - if your conscription jurisidiction has sufficient volunteer enlistees.

Also - there is another route to automatically bypass conscription - a form of "Junior ROTC" in which male high school students attend weekly military training - I think it's on Fridays.

Heres a quote:

All Thai men aged 20 to 23 are required to report to a military camp in their constituency to fill a limited number of draft openings. If they draw a red ballot in the lottery, they must serve for two years. A black ballot frees them from duty. The odds of drawing a black slip vary from camp to camp.

Good luck!

Indo-Siam

They can also get out of it if they have rich enough parents if you get my drift.

I wonder why you are asking??

At 15 a boy has to register and get his id card.

At the same time he is entered in the list for conscription.

At 20 he must report to the local Amphur office for a medical and then

he picks a lot. RED means he is in, BLACK means he is free to get on with his life.

The lottery is going on now. My son picked a Black card so is free to get on with his life.

Wealth parents can possibly pay to have their son's name missed, but it may not be so easy now.

If the boy wants to be a soldier, he can also volunteer.

Thanks all...

One more question.

On the day he picks the Red lot.. as my friend did.. on April 5.. Does that mean he must IMMEDIATELY go to serve.. the next day? Or is there a period of "freedom" before he's drafted.

ChrisP

They can also get out of it if they have rich enough parents if you get my drift.

or if they can play tennis

They can also get out of it if they have rich enough parents if you get my drift.

The odds of getting a rich parent in Thailand are much lower than those of drawing a Black slip. But the fringe benefits are certainly higher!