Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - December 5, 1998
Aphaluck Bhatiasevi
"The army will not test the blood of (potential) draftees but will check for diseases before recruiting them," said Col Somkuan Saengpattaranetr, the army spokesman, yesterday.
Col Somkuan confirmed the army would not seek to amend the 1954 Conscription Act, which was revised in 1997, as earlier mentioned because of concern for individual rights and possible social consequences.
The army's move to subject conscription-age youths to blood testing was prompted by reports that some 1.9 percent of military conscripts each year were found to be HIV positive.
Col Somkuan said the army had to be careful because conscripts would be highly exposed to injuries during training as well as the possibility of an emergency, and that could increase the risk of HIV spread.
He added the army's budget constraints had affected its Aids work, which was not considered to be its main responsibility.
The army reportedly had to dismiss some 3,000 young recruits last year because of their health problems, although not all of them had HIV, according to Gen Prompong Peerabool, a neurosurgeon at Phra Mongkutklao Hospital.
This report led to the Oct 7, 1998 announcement urging conscription-age men to seek a medical check-up voluntarily before actual conscription so the army could screen them more easily, he said.
Gen Prompong stressed such check-ups were not compulsory, adding that the new policy was not intended to ban HIV/Aids victims from the armed forces.
Gen Prompong said it was impossible for military doctors to screen some 700 people in one day, therefore the army would prefer those who suspected themselves to be suffering from any of the 12 health problems outlined in the Conscription Act to seek medical examination before reporting for conscription.
"Without clear evidence of medical problems, it is difficult for military doctors to exempt them from conscription," and the doctors could be accused of taking bribes to order such exemptions, he said.
Meanwhile Gen Suebpong Sangkharomya, deputy director of the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, said the army spent some four million baht yearly to carry out blood tests on more than 50,000 new recruits.
He said the military's blood testing programme was necessary to be in line with the coutry's Aids update since conscripts represented the majority of 21-year-old Thai men.
"This is the only way we can know of the effectiveness of our two-billion-baht budget spent on Aids work each year.
"Information obtained from such tests not only show us where Thailand is with HIV/Aids prevention and campaign work, but also benefit the international community in Aids research," Gen Suebpong said.
He added blood test results were kept confidential.
Though a number of HIV victims had been adversely affected by indications of their blood status on military recruitment documents, the armed forces were recommended to do their best to avoid using the term " HIV positive" in their official documents to help protect their personnel's future employment prospects.
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