Army Commander-in-Chief General Apirat Kongsompong has confirmed that Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit went through conscription process, but was not enlisted because there were already sufficient volunteers to fill the conscription quota.
The army chief said that the report on social media, accusing Thanathorn of using a fake Sor Dor 9 paper to avoid conscription, was untrue and urged the media and the online community to exercise caution before spreading fake news.
In response to the erroneous report, Thanathorn claimed that he had gone to Prawet district office to draw conscription lots, and drew a lot which freed him from being enlisted.
In his Facebook post, he accused some senior military figures of benefiting from the conscription, which explains their reluctance to scrap the system.
Meanwhile, Army deputy spokesperson Colonel Sirichan Ngathong said, after checking, that the firebrand politician had registered for conscription, but was not enlisted as a result.
Thanathorn was given a Sor Dor 43 document to certify that he was designated a reservist.
