The latest hazing scandal in the Royal Thai Navy is horrifying. A young conscript was allegedly stripped naked, blindfolded, whipped with belts, burned with lighter fluid and had hot candle wax dripped onto his body. Even his genitals were burned.
His tormentors reportedly filmed his agony and shared the clips among themselves for entertainment. Unable to endure the abuse any longer, the young man fled the camp and sought help. Public outrage forced the Navy to act. It has launched an investigation, disciplined 17 personnel and once again pledged zero tolerance for violence.
That is far from sufficient. The Navy has conducted only an internal investigation and intends to handle the case through the military justice system. Under the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act 2022, those responsible should face criminal prosecution in civilian courts. Commanders should also be held accountable if they failed to prevent or stop the abuse.
Thailand has witnessed one hazing scandal after another. According to Human Rights Watch, 21 conscripts died between 2009 and 2024 after being beaten, subjected to degrading punishments or otherwise abused in the name of discipline. No civilised society should dismiss such cruelty as military discipline or a rite of passage. It is torture.
Every tragedy follows the same script. Public outrage erupts. The military promises a thorough investigation. A handful of perpetrators are punished. Then another victim emerges. Only days after the latest Navy scandal, a civil court ordered the Defence Ministry, the Royal Thai Army and several officers to compensate the family of Private Yutthakinan Boonniam, who died after prolonged torture in an army camp in 2017. His mother spent nine years fighting through the courts. She eventually won justice, but her son was gone forever.
Last year, in the first landmark conviction under the law, an army trainer was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the death of Pvt Woraprat Patmasakul, while senior conscripts received prison terms as accomplices. Yet punishment alone cannot solve the problem because hazing is not the disease. It is a symptom of a deeper institutional culture.
At the heart of the problem is a rigid, authoritarian hierarchy built on rank and privilege. Obedience is demanded, seniority often outweighs professionalism, and power is exercised from the top down with little accountability. Each year, Thailand conscripts more than 80,000 young men into compulsory military service. They enter an institution where advancement depends not only on competence but also on knowing who commands, who obeys and who is never to be challenged.
The military's career structure reinforces those divisions. Graduates of the military academies enjoy a clear path to senior leadership, while sergeants and enlisted personnel have far fewer opportunities for advancement. Such inequalities foster deference, resentment and unquestioning obedience, while creating fertile ground for corruption among those seeking to avoid conscription. In such an environment, hazing becomes more than the cruelty of a few sadistic individuals. It becomes a ritual through which power is asserted and passed from one generation to the next. Yesterday's victims become today's perpetrators, and abuse is normalised as part of military life.
Breaking that cycle requires more than punishing offenders whenever another scandal comes to light. It requires changing the institution that allows such behaviour to flourish. Thailand should begin by replacing compulsory conscription with voluntary recruitment. Modern armed forces depend on well-trained professionals who choose military service as a career, not young men compelled to serve through a lottery.
Professional soldiers deserve professional careers. Recruitment, promotion and leadership should be based on merit, performance and ability, not educational pedigree or entrenched patronage networks. Leadership training should emphasise responsibility, ethics and modern military management rather than fear and violence masquerading as discipline. None of this would weaken the armed forces. It would strengthen them.
The military exists to defend the nation, not to preserve outdated traditions that undermine human dignity. Armed forces around the world have shown that discipline can be built through professionalism, mutual respect and rigorous training without degrading those in uniform. The latest Navy scandal must not end with another investigation, another list of punishments and another promise of zero tolerance. Thailand has heard those promises too many times before.
The real question is no longer how to punish the latest abusers. It is whether Thailand is prepared to build a military where such abuse has no place. Until that transformation begins, the faces of the victims may change, but the story will remain painfully the same.
