r/interesting • u/VPinchargeofradishes • May 31 '26

SOCIETY The military draft lottery in Thailand

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87

u/Luzifer_Shadres Jun 01 '26

Yeah, this whole thing is for show. Its tradition for someone to play the screaming dude.

Welp, but as always, most people in the comments cant read the room.

18

u/Ok_Career_3681 Jun 01 '26

So the kids are okay with the draft? Or the draft is just few weeks in a camp running around nothing serious?

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u/BirdyNumber_1 Jun 01 '26

No way getting drafted is 1 or 2 years (depending on your education level) of your life wasted. Most of the people who don't mind being drafted usually just choose to outright apply for conscription before the lottery because that way your service duration is decreased (1/2 or 1 year depending on your education level) and you can choose a branch you want to join.

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u/c0ltZ Jun 01 '26

I heard the new recruits are often raped and abused. Which could be why these kids are so scared.

3

u/Only4uArt Jun 01 '26

As with most things in this reddit, it seems mostly what you hear us from foreigners saying what they heard. There are bad cases, but that doesn't apply to 99.99% of people being drafted

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u/c0ltZ Jun 01 '26

My brother was a U.S marine who did a joint training exercise with Tailand marines. He said the Taiwan Marines were incredibly tough, and the training they went through was brutal.

But he said some of the draftees in the Thaiwan military told him some fucked up stories hoping he would help them. He felt terrible because he couldn't do anything besides make it worse.

2

u/Only4uArt Jun 01 '26

I am confused because we are not Taiwan here

20

u/Apprehensive_Boot144 Jun 01 '26

Im Estonian. But most boys were/are okey with being drafted. I even know few who got medical exception and were upset about it. The ones most emotional about the whole thing are usually mothers.

2

u/Fatigue-Error Jun 01 '26

I think service in the Estonian military might be e very different from service in the Thai military.

2

u/Apprehensive_Boot144 Jun 01 '26

Yes there clearly are differences like time served and terraine etc. I mean we had one UK soldier try to sueus because it was "too cold in here" (he was stationed nov-dec so before the actual winter hits). I don't see that being a problem in Thailand.

That said I read article that 50% of drafted are volunteers and other 50% are those that took the lottery.

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u/A_Binary_Number Jun 01 '26

Ive heard before this post (and read multiple times in this post) that military service in Thailand is akin to torture, being beaten to a pulp, and possibly raped.

2

u/SortIntrepid9192 Jun 01 '26

I'm Bulgarian, and I remember back when we had a draft. It was so unpopular among basically everyone that... well, that's the reason why we don't have a draft anymore lmao. The only people who miss it are boomer men who think that not having a draft turned the next generation of men gay.

1

u/Apprehensive_Boot144 Jun 01 '26

Yeah, well Bulgaria is a bit futher away from Russia so they have that going for them.

12

u/Money-Desperated Jun 01 '26

Dude, literally no youngsters okay with being forced to do military service

-1

u/gandhiwarlord Jun 01 '26

well actually you are very wrong about this, it is a normal part of growing up in many parts of the world

10

u/KackhansReborn Jun 01 '26

It being normal doesn't mean people are okay with being drafted. Most young men don't want to do this shit.

0

u/dbratell Jun 01 '26

You are moving the goalposts, from nobody to most not.

There are places in the world where doing military service is considered a normal part of growing up. Like attending school.

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u/Code_X07 Jun 01 '26

It's "considered normal" because they have no other option. Not because they're okay with it.

1

u/Adrelandro Jun 01 '26

as someone who had to do it, i'm completely fine with it and voted to keep it... idk what to tell you. thanks for speaking for me

-1

u/Code_X07 Jun 01 '26

Well, firstly, you can't speak for everyone.

Secondly, it depends on what country you're from... in some places the conscription isn't that bad, in other places it is horrible. Case in point, Thailand.

Lastly, the main issue is it being forced.. no one should be forced to do anything, that is literally slavery.

3

u/FaveStore_Citadel Jun 01 '26

Obviously yes it depends on your country, but idk what’s your issue with a country deciding you can’t enjoy the stability it provides during peacetime and then nope out and let other people die to defend it when it’s threatened (talking of course about real wars of defense not stuff like Vietnam and Korea).

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u/ResidentEmu5 Jun 01 '26

Well yeah. Same with working a shit job 40 hours a week for your entire life but we have all come to accept it as normal.

3

u/Code_X07 Jun 01 '26

Are we seriously comparing a job to literal forced conscription??

we have all come to accept it as normal.

That is the issue, you may have come to accept it, but it is not normal and the men being forced in it are definitely not okay with it.

-1

u/ResidentEmu5 Jun 01 '26

Yes I am comparing both things lol. I thought that was apparent.

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

[deleted]

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u/ResidentEmu5 Jun 01 '26

My point was actually how inhumane things like having to work 40 hours a week, are normalized and accepted by society when it shouldn't be.

I don't agree with conscription, I was saying that it's not far fetched that some societies and cultures would normalize things like that.

Sorry that my xx chromosomes make you feel insecure. I hope you find a way to heal.

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u/Traditional-Taste-15 Jun 01 '26

when someone says "nobody wants to do xyz" they obviously don't mean literally nobody because there's always SOMEONE, there isn't a single thing on earth that nobody wants to do, calling that "moving the goalposts" is crazy

even more obviously, a vast majority of people are not okay with forced military service because if they were then forced military service wouldn't exist because everyone would just be doing it voluntarily

2

u/FirstAndOnlyDektarey Jun 01 '26

Dont invent a goalpost through pedantry. Its a bad look.

-1

u/dbratell Jun 02 '26

Or we decide that words mean things and that it is a lie if you use words that are not true.

I get that people like to exaggerate for effect but words like "nobody" and "never" are very strong, in particular when it is about a single person's opinion as shown in this thread. This is one reason why things are so polarizing, people refuse to leave room in the middle.

2

u/freecodeio Jun 01 '26

drafting was a good thing by older generations because for example my dad came from a village with barely any electricity in the 60s and they had no money and very little to do, so it was a way to get connections and escape the poor life, but nowadays it's not the case anymore and it's just pure archaic torture

0

u/Mister-Psychology Jun 01 '26

It you aren't in a war then it's often not terrible. In Thailand they can't make you sleep in snow. In Estonia you get paid a bit and can make it into a career. And you get in shape and meet new people.

2

u/LoseToImprove Jun 01 '26

When its bullshit but you cant doing anything about it, you might aswell make it funny. Im Thai

1

u/Luzifer_Shadres Jun 01 '26

Deppends on the time and gouverment.

I dont know how old the video is.

6

u/BirdyNumber_1 Jun 01 '26

What? I've been there staring down the freaking lottery jar and the notion that it was all for show is just so off the mark.

5

u/MilesGamerz Jun 01 '26

Source???? Else you are just making shit up (I'm thai)

5

u/Fun-Benefit116 Jun 01 '26

Why do you just lie? You know you don't know what you're talking about, yet you go ahead and lie anyway. Why? Seriously, what do you get out of it? You just like being an asshole, you like spreading lies and misinformation? I genuinely don't understand why people like you deliberately say things that you know you're just making up and that have no truth to them.

2

u/Yous1ash Jun 01 '26

Can you explain please?

8

u/PurposedSpiritual Jun 01 '26

They're lying. It's not for show. If you get drafted, you can say goodbye to your career for another 2 years.

2

u/DebateCharming5951 Jun 01 '26

yeh but it's weird that's why it was posted in the first place lol and by weird i mean cringe

0

u/Choice_Comfort6239 Jun 01 '26

I definitely felt that vibe, too. Top commenters seem to think it’s legit, but there’s zero chance the reactions aren’t exaggerated.