The Royal Thai Army has punished two non-commissioned officers a master sergeant and basic sergeant for excessively punishing newly enlisted soldiers after being complained about on Facebook to thousands of followers.
They were sentenced to confinement for 45 days without pay, while Army Command gave the base commander and a Lt. Colonel disciplinary action for 15 days, including base confinement.
Lt. Col. Richa Suksuwanon, the deputy spokesman for the Royal Thai Army, spoke about the case where the “Sai Mai Must Survive” Facebook page reported a request for assistance regarding soldiers under the 25th Cavalry Battalion, 4th Cavalry Regiment, Royal Guards, being inappropriately punished at the Ban Nor Lae Operations Base, Mon Pin Subdistrict, Fang District, Chiang Mai Province.
The Royal Thai Army has ordered the unit to set up a fact-finding committee for the incident. The latest report from the investigation shows that the incident in which soldiers were punished occurred on March 5th.
Two non-commissioned officers gathered the conscripted soldiers and punished them collectively, including having them take off their clothes because they were found to have committed military disciplinary violations by sneaking out of the base.
Another incident occurred on August 1st when the same two non-commissioned officers called in conscripts to be trained and tested for drugs as a group.
Army recruits test negative for drugs
During the testing, one conscript showed dissatisfaction and had difficulty urinating. The two non-commissioned officers who were in charge used excessive force against the two soldiers. The Drug tests on all soldiers came back negative for drugs, Thai media reported.
TLt. Col. Richa Suksuwanon stated that both incidents involved unreasonable punishments against soldiers that violated military discipline regulations, and there was negligence by the commander who had assigned them to supervise soldiers at the base of operations fairly and justly.
The investigation results showed that the unit considered punishing the two non-commissioned officers by sending them back to their normal units and imprisoning them in a military prison for 45 days, with no bonuses.
The commanders, in order of rank, the company commander and the battalion commander, were confined to the base and given 15 days of disciplinary training.
At the same time, the Royal Thai Army has ordered commanders at all levels to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.
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