Transvestites face dilemma of military draft

April 18, 2008

Patcharapol Panrak

Transvestites registering for the military draft have been advised by the armed forces that they must revert to being men within 30 days of applying or they would be rejected on the grounds of being mentally unsuited to becoming trained killers.

Members of the third gender, who can face discrimination in their later careers if they are rejected for the draft on mental grounds, have protested that they can play an important role in the military, for example by working as nurses in the medical corps.

Registration for this year’s draft opened at Sattahip School at 9 a.m. on April 8, under the watchful eye of Col Piyachat Thoopthong, chairman of the Reserve Forces Selection Board for 2008.

Thai men born in 1987 and who reside officially in Sattahip District were directed to present themselves for the selection process. The Sattahip draft included 21-year-olds from Sattahip, Samaesarn, Bangsarae, Najomtien and Plutaluang.

The number of young men required varies from year to year, with the decision on who to draft being decided by a lottery. This year, the Royal Thai Navy at Sattahip needed only 80 recruits, and so 169 black tickets were issued along with the 80 red tickets. There were 16 men who volunteered to join without drawing a ticket. This year there were also 11 transvestites who met the age requirement. They too attended the selection process, adding a colorful atmosphere to the proceedings.

Some had already had sexual reassignment surgery, which eliminated them from the selection, despite a suggestion that they could become nursing officers and thereby avoid the stigma of being rejected on mental health grounds. Some who had not had surgery tried to hide their sexual orientation in the hope that the selection committee would not notice.

Banpot Chaikanorm, a 21-year-old woman of the second category who lives in Sattahip and attends university, said he wanted to hear for himself exactly what the regulations were for the transgendered. He said that rejection could harm the prospects for employment, which was unfair as no one felt they should be subject to unnecessary reports on their mental stability.

Another transvestite student, Piyapan Sakorn, said that the rules stated that a person who believed themselves to be transgendered had to “cure” themselves within 30 days, when they had to represent at the draft board. They had the opportunity to face the committee three times for assessment. Those who did not pass the masculinity test were rejected, and their record marked as being mentally unfit.

Piyapan, however, said he didn’t want to be in the armed forces, because he prefers to study. He is different from other normal men, he said, and this has given him an inferiority complex. Studying and obtaining good qualifications can help him overcome this.

Col Piyachat announced that the Royal Thai Navy in Sattahip District required 11 personnel for the first division (three volunteers and 11 red ticket receivers), 10 for the second division (one volunteer and nine red tickets), 10 for the third (red tickets), and 10 (red tickets) for the fourth. The Royal Thai Army needed 28 people for the first division and another 28 for the second.