Loyal citizen soldiers

re: "Retain citizen army" (BP, PostBag, December 13, 2022)  

Dear editor,

Overlooked his seemingly overlooked fact that dictators historically tend to use forced conscription to further their aims, in his extolling of a citizen army as a bulwark of democracy, Samuel Wright left a couple of points unclear. Foremost, how is an army made of citizens who willingly sign up to serve their nation any less a citizen army than one where unwilling citizens are conscripted for forced service? Second, it is most puzzling how being forcibly conscripted into the service of an army that has a long track record of overthrowing the Thai people's popular form of democratic government might in any way serve to support democracy; the well-known historical record would appear to suggest the opposite. 

But perhaps if the young conscripts, men and women, were required to swear an oath to uphold and protect the constitution of the Thai people, that would help. In fact, it would surely be a very good thing for the stable, democratic flourishing of the Thai nation were all holders of senior state offices, whether appointed or elected, required on taking office to swear an oath to uphold and protect the constitution of the Thai nation above all other things. The nation's constitution is, after all, the supreme legal document that is the ultimate foundation of every institution, office, and practice that is defined to lawfully exist under it. Were such a requirement written into a duly amended latest current permanent constitution of the Thai nation, Mr Wright's theory might then have some merit. 

 Felix Qui  

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on December 14, 2022, under the title "Loyal citizen soldiers" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2459900/questioning-masks