Saffron activist asks Army for leniency after being threatened with arrest
Former student activist Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal asked for leniency on Sunday after the Army threatened to have him arrested for allegedly trying to avoid military conscription by living as a monk.
Netiwit asked the Army to give him a few more weeks to complete his Pali exams and prepare to leave the monkhood.
“During the short period I have left to be a monk, please allow me the solitude accorded to monks,” he said in a statement published online.
He has a Pali grammar exam on April 15 and 16 that is required to complete a course. After that, he has to follow the rites required to leave the monkhood, he said.
When the exam and rites are completed, he will surrender to the police to face legal action.
Netiwit failed to show up after being summoned for conscription in Samut Prakan on Sunday, said an officer from the Territorial Defence Command.
Netiwit cannot use being a monk as an excuse to avoid military service, said the officer, who asked not to be named. Only senior monks with Buddhist theology certificates can request exemption, he added.
Netiwit has run out of excuses, the officer explained, saying the activist postponed conscription while he was studying at university until he graduated.
Article 27 of the Military Service Act requires him to enter the recruiting process, the officer said. The Territorial Defence Command will tell the Samut Prakan Muang district chief to file a complaint with police to arrest Netiwit, he said.
He said he began living as a monk on July 10 of last year but had promised nine years ago never to dodge conscription by wearing saffron robes.
He wants to leave the monkhood gracefully before he faces the consequences of his decision to oppose conscription. He just wants a few more weeks to study the teachings of the Buddha as he prepares to return to civilian life, he said.
