Thai military service for dual citizens
“Do I have to undertake Thai military service?” is one of the most common questions that arises for male Thai citizens born and living overseas, as well as dual citizens born in Thailand.
As a basic rule, all healthy males with Thai citizenship who are resident in Thailand are required to report to a conscription officer at age 20. The only men who don’t have to go through the conscription process are naturalised Thai males or those who have completed the territorial defense program while at school.
Undertaking conscription is still a major rite of passage for most young Thai men. Having fulfilled your obligation is important from a general legal perspective, but also important given some employers – particularly in the public sector – still require evidence of completing your obligation.
Conscription
Thai males who are registered in Thailand on the tabieen baan (house register) are normally sent initial administrative papers about their obligation at age 17. They are expected to respond to this letter in anticipation for being sent instructions for presenting themselves for the conscription lottery at 20.
The basic health requirements are as follows:
- Be free from diseases and disabilities that can interfere with military service; and
- Height at least 160 cm or more and a chest circumference of 76cm measured when exhaling.
Those with a suspected disease or disability contrary to military service are required to be examination at one of 20 Army hospitals in the country between October and February in the year of being eligible for conscription.
On conscription day, eligible recruits will take part in a lottery, picking coloured ball out of a barrel. Those who choose a red ball will be drafted for 2 years. Choose a black one, and you are home free.
Registration is handled by the local recruitment officer – the Sasadee (สัสดี) located at your local district office (สำนักงานเขต) where you are registered on the house book/tabieen baan (ทะเบียนบ้าน).
In 2017, a little over 100,000 twenty year-olds, joined the armed forces. Most (78%) went into the army, 14% into the Navy and 8% into the air force. Of these, 49% volunteered for Thai military service and the remainder were conscripted.
The local office will usually provide statistics on how many in that district need to be conscripted to meet the local quota. In some areas, the ranks are mainly filled with volunteers who see the military as a good employment option. As such, the actual number of people needing to be conscripted may be low, depending on the district.
Some basic misconceptions and myths:
Before we examine the legitimate ways of de-risking your chances of being conscripted, let’s look at some misconceptions about what gets you exempted.
- Myth 1: Dual citizen children are not eligible for conscription;
- Myth 2: Not speaking Thai exempts you from selection;
- Myth 3: Children who aren’t ethnically Thai aren’t eligible to be conscripted; and
- Myth 4: Becoming a monk automatically exempts you.
Having read the rules from start to finish, there is nothing in the regulations that refer to these factors as exemptions. Don’t be caught out by rumours to the contrary!
The (lack of) Thai language one is often cited to me, however the fact is there are loads of kids from Khmer, Malay or Lao speaking regions of Thailand whose central Thai may not be terribly strong – let alone literate – but they are as eligible as a Thai male who only fluent in a European language.
Indeed, English language skills are useful to the military, particularly for intelligence related roles. Though it isn’t unknown to find those who have been exempted because of their lack of Thai speaking skills – do not rely on this as a general rule!
The ONLY impediment for Thai males with a foreign parent is that they are ineligible to become and officer in the Thai armed forces. While other areas of Thai law have mainly removed discrimination based on parent’s nationality (e.g. eligibility for being an MP), this rule remains firmly on the books of the Thai military for the time being.
Becoming a monk doesn’t automatically exempt you – a monk passing out having chosen the red ball. Image Source: Matichon Newspaper
Its also worth noting that becoming a monk doesn’t automatically exempt you. Only monks who have undertaken higher (divinity) level Buddhist education within the Mahajana sect (พระภิกษุที่มีสมณศักดิ์ชั้นเปรียญ นักบวชนิกายมหายาน) and monks and novices who have been certified by the Ministry of Education (สามเณร ภิกษุ นักบวชพุทธศาสนานิกายมหายาน ที่ได้รับการรับรองจากกระทรวงศึกษาธิการ) are automatically exempted.
As such, those serving as monks, who fall outside these categories will need to report for military conscription, and it isn’t an uncommon sight to see ordained men lining up on conscription day to see if they are chosen for Thai military service.
Legitimate exemptions from the military draft
While a good proportion of applicants see military service as a way out of poverty, or as a way to serve their nation, others have personal reasons for avoiding being conscripted for two full years right at the start of their 20’s.
Regulations thus contain some thoroughly above-board ways to avoid having to be conscripted, or at the very least, delay it. These include the following:
1) Territorial defense program
This program, known colloquially in Thai as Ror Dor (รด) is the equivalent of army ‘cadets’ in places like the UK or Australia, or the ‘ROTC’ in the US.
This is one of the main methods Thai kids use to avoid the lottery. If you are parents of young children, then selecting a high school with a ‘Ror Dor’ program might be something worth thinking about. International schools generally also offer ‘Ror Dor’ as well.
The concept is very simple. In the senior years of high school (and in some cases university), a child can sign up and participate in training during school hours a few days per month for three years. This provides an alternative form of basic training which culminates in a multi-day camp at the end of the program. After the full three-year course is completed, the students receive exemption papers for the draft at age 20.
For partial completion of Ror Dor, credit will also be given. Completing one year of Ror Dor means only having to serve full-time for one year if conscripted. Similarly, completing two years of reserve training means only doing six months of full-time training if conscripted.
For those who start, but don’t complete the Ror Dor course at high school, they are permitted to carry on with the course for 2 more years at university.
2) University/Post graduate studies
Whether in Thailand or overseas, further studies are an acceptable method of deferring your obligations to attend the lottery.
Thai embassies overseas will have Military Deferment Forms (แบบฟอร์มขอหนังสือรับรองการผ่อนผันการเกณฑ์ทหาร).
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.
A word of warning though, if you decide to try your luck with the lottery, and pick the red ball, do note that you’ll have to serve to full conscription period, university degree or not.
4) Overseas military service
The conscription rules do state that comparable foreign military service does count towards reducing military obligations in Thailand. How this is administered is unclear, and probably comes down to being assessed a case by case basis.
5) Not moving back to Thailand until you are 30 years of age
All Thai males who report for conscription at after age 30 are automatically released from duty (technically this happens from the 1st of January in the year you turn 30).
Without going into the chapter and verse of the conscription rules, those who are unable to report can send a representative on their behalf up until age 26, after which they must go themselves. The rules also allow for if you can’t send a representative on your behalf.
As such, particularly if you are an overseas born Thai, it may be worthwhile staying unregistered in Thailand – no ID card and staying off the house book or tabien baan (ทะเบียนบ้าน) – and only formally registering yourself for Thai military service with the district office until you are past 30.
At which point, so long as you voluntarily report, you will be released from your obligation with a small payment of a fine at the police station. The fine for reporting late ranges between 100 and 300 baht – and a fine at the lower end of that range is usually granted for voluntary reporting.
If I live overseas, can I travel back Thailand on a Thai passport if I haven’t reported?
Up until the late 1990’s, for those over the age of majority, having your military release papers was a requirement for being issued a Thai passport.
Fortunately, this has changed and the military and immigration don’t talk to each other. As such, if you haven’t fulfilled your reporting obligation, you don’t have to worry about being arrested upon landing in Thailand!
Hi chris,
my son was born and lived in thailand for his first 2 years, he then moved to the uk where he has been for the past 18 years(20 now). He has been sent conscription papers to his grand parents house in thailand where he was registered at birth. he travels on british passport, so first of all is there any need to worry about him being conscripted if we travelled to thailand and if there is which is the best way of going about it, he is currently at university in the uk.
Hi Mark,
He’s got a couple of options – one is that someone can submit the paperwork for him, but once in, he can also request for a deferment based on his university studies in the UK. The embassy will be able to guide you on that but it would probably involve his grand parents submitting his paperwork to the conscription office first on his behalf. Deferments till age 25 or 26 from memory so long as he in further study. So for me this is the ‘belt and braces’ approach while studying at least for the next few years.
Another option, is simply to not report. Strictly speaking, reporting late is against the law, but the penalties are quite small if done voluntarily at a later date. As this link from the Thai Embassy in Washington DC shows – the procedure for reporting late depends on at what age they report. Up to the age of 20, they are essentially put into next years lot for receiving a call up and are expected to report for the lottery at age 21, with a maximum fine of 300 baht if done voluntarily, but there is a potential of three months imprisonment, fine, or both, if ordered by a court.
Doing so between ages after 21 mean that process is fast forwarded but essentially you are expected to report for conscription in the immediate year following – which involves being assessed as qualified as part of the process. As per my article, once 30, you are immediately disqualified upon reporting.
To your concern about being caught. To my knowledge immigration databases historically haven’t flagged Thai citizens when they haven’t reported (this certainly never happened to me and people that I knew). Traveling on a non-Thai passport will mean that there is little chance for a link to be even made and I suspect plenty of people do just that. Obviously all of this is to be viewed as non-legal advice but based on practical experiences of mine and quite a few others.
Hi Chris,
A quick background history of me is that I have lived in thailand for 4 years of my life since I was born there, but I had moved to England due to my moms marriage to my english step dad. I have lived here for 16 years now and I recently had my 20th birthday on 3rd of jan. My question stems on the fact, will I be required to report to the thai embassy about this conscription draft? As I am a thai born, but I have yet to receive one of those letters for the conscription. Will I be arrested if I were to go back to Thailand with my thai passport? I was also thinking of perhaps staying in thailand for a year when I reach age 27, I’m guessing that option is not available for me anymore? Due to the resident thing. Which is a shame as majority of my thai family are there.
Moreover I have heard some rumours about their soldiers criteria. I didnt exactly win the genetic lottery as I am 5f2, so will that exempt me from being conscripted or they simply just dont care about height and just take just about anyone? I have also heard about paying a fee to the recruitment officer, a short of 1k pounds to take you off the conscription lottery. Is that perhaps true? Because if I can do that, I wont have to join the thai army and I still get to keep my thai passport. As much as being a soldier intrigues me, I would much rather be a british soldier as i grew up here.
Hi David,
So thanks for your question. So I can’t given any comment regarding what the army look for from a health perspective, and I’m not (as a rule) talk about acts which may be considered illegal.
Given you haven’t received any call up letter could be for a number of reasons (e.g. your name may have come off the house registration or that previous attempts to contact you have been unanswered). In your case, there is no need to report to the Thai embassy (they don’t handle conscription anyway) and given you haven’t received any formal notification to be called up, technically you can’t defer due to studies (which is what the embassy can handle).
Short visits to Thailand will generally be fine, and even those lasting for a few months. It will always be a grey area on when you are in Thailand ‘full time’, but having a job, studying and getting your ID card back – as well as being there around the conscription date in April is probably the easiest measure. As per the article, in the year you turn 30 then you are not eligible to be called up.
I hope this is of help.
Hi Chris,
I’m a 17 years old german-thai citizen currently living in Thailand. I’m planning to move out from here when I graduate next year and probably won’t move back to Thailand anymore. But I might come back here for some holidays sometimes. My question right now is, will I get into trouble if I enter Thailand between the age of 21 and 30 with my German passport and what do I do after turning 30? And another question is, will I get into trouble abroad for not joining the thai military conscription?
Thank you!
Hi Matthias
I can’t give you any specific answers – but broadly if you aren’t resident in Thailand during those years and are unable to attend the lottery day for valid reasons, then you will be okay. Short visits are fine, but moving back permanently will obviously re-activate your obligation. You also don’t say whether you have received any paperwork from you local sasadee yet, in which case formal deferrment due to study overseas is probably something you need to look into.
I am planning on moving to Thailand and eventually becoming a Thai citizen. I was born in Thailand but as a refugee with no Thai birth Certificate and both my parents were born in Loas. I am wondering if I become a Thai citizen, will my sons be required to report for conscription when they reach appropriate ages? My husband is an American born with US citizenship. I also have US citizenship as of right now.
Hi Ker,
Thanks for your message. That you were born in Thailand doesn’t mean that you are eligible for Thai citizenship. One of your parents needed to be a Thai citizen at the time of your birth to pass on citizenship to you. As such, for you to naturalise as a Thai citizen, you will need to go through the normal process of living and working here, gaining PR and then eventually citizenship (see this article here).
Assuming you go down that path, and both your sons are made PR and then naturalised alongside you, then they won’t be required to do military service as naturalised Thai citizens.
Hi, I am an Australian male that is the son of a Thai father and Australian mother (i am illegitimate, still have good contact though and maintain visits).
One, would my illegitimacy hinder citizenship; and, two, if I did get citizenship, would it be worth it considering I might want to live in Thailand for a period of time and also the fact there is conscription.
Also, does wealth help you avoid conscription?
You don’t say where you were born but I’m assuming you were born in Australia. For you to be recognised as a Thai citizen legitimization needs to occur via either your parents marrying or your parents agreeing to formally legitimizing your birth via courts. Failing that I think you can advocate yourself via DNA testing etc but with all of the above I’d consult a lawyer.
And this legitimization will need to happen before the Thai embassy in the country you were born issues you with a Thai birth certificate (though check with them on what documentation will be needed in the case of parents not being married).
In terms of being exempted from military service, wealth per se doesn’t change things, and I’ve outlined the main legal channels in the article available to you. The best one in your case is simply not to be formally registered on a house registration until you are 30.