Thai military mulls scrapping conscription after sharp rise in voluntary recruits
The Royal Thai Army hopes that the higher number of soldiers joining up voluntarily this year means it can end conscription in 2023.
The Army is aiming to boost voluntary recruitment by using the incentive of promotions. The move is part of a reform plan announced earlier by Army chief Narongphan Jitkaewtae.
The plan calls for reductions in unit sizes, expenses and officer numbers over the next three years. Meanwhile, reserve troops will be utilised more efficiently to maintain Thailand’s military readiness in line with the current global situation, Narongphan said.
The incentives for voluntary recruits would be introduced slowly to avoid affecting the military’s efficiency in war readiness, protecting sovereignty, and other missions.
Under the new plan, those who apply voluntarily to become Army privates can choose their unit. They can also take exams to become non-commissioned officers or study at the Army Non-Commissioned Officer School after they have completed their service.
Army assistant spokeswoman Lt-Colonel Patcharin Chan-arsa said the Army recruited 58,330 regular troops this year, with 6,101 applying online through the website.
She said 21,046 Thais applied voluntarily on the conscription dates, leaving only 30,646 troops to be conscripted. The number of conscripts dropped by 18,749 from last year, she added.
This is the third year of the Army’s online voluntary recruitment programme, which runs from August 29, 2022, to January 29, 2023.
This year, the number of personnel recruited by the Thai military fell by 10 per cent or 12,000 soldiers.
The military usually recruits 80,000 to 100,000 soldiers per year, depending on the annual birth rate. Of these, 70,000 go to the Army, 13,000 to the Air Force, 6,000 to the Navy, 1,900 to Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters and the rest to the Defence Ministry.
The proportion of voluntary recruits rose steadily from 22 per cent in 2010, before doubling between 2021 and this this year to 75 per cent. Ninety per cent of the voluntary recruits this year are between 18 and 20 years old.
Voluntary applications in the 2nd and 4th Army Areas (Northeast and South) have risen by 118 and 134 per cent, respectively.
The Army blamed criticism from politicians for suppressing military recruitment in previous years but said Narongsak’s reform policy could lead to completely voluntary recruitment in the future.
