A reader wrote me today asking what Chalerm went back to the Ministry of Defence to thank them for. Had they done anything? Was something achieved?
The answer is in this newspaper quote from The Nation:
Due to heavy complaints from transvestites and transsexuals who are exempt from the military because of “mental disorder”, the Thai army is amending the law to omit the words and keep up with a changing society, an official said Wednesday.
All Thai men at the age of 20 are required by law to register to serve in the military as conscript soldiers. Recruits are selected by a lottery system, but each year thousands of men who dress, or have undergone surgeries to look like women receive certificates of exemption that are stamped “due to mental disorder”.
The existing conscription law has been promulgated since 1954, when there were few homosexuals and transvestites, but society is changing rapidly, thus the army is in the process of amending the law and omitting those words from the certificate, Lt. Gen ArthornLohitkul, director general of the Army Reserve Command said.
Now they have promised to do it. Lets see if it happens too. I think there is a fair chance as I don’t see any powerful group opposing it. The wording doesn’t matter much to the military but it matters a lot to those who are branded as mentally ill. The military don’t want negative press coverage so in this case they might improve their practice.