The 10th marks one month since the military, which holds real power in Myanmar, announced the implementation of conscription.

Among the young people targeted, there are many cases in which they leave the country for neighboring Thailand in an attempt to escape conscription.

In Myanmar, the military, which has been in power since a coup d'état three years ago, announced last month that it would implement a conscription system that would impose compulsory military service on men and women over the age of 18.



Young people are rushing to the embassies of neighboring Thailand to seek long-term visas in order to avoid being drafted into the military, and an accident occurred in Mandalay, the country's second city, in which two people who were gathered in front of a passport office were killed. Masu.



Against this backdrop, a university in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, held an entrance exam for its English department this month, and received 2,100 applications, far exceeding the 100-person capacity, and most of them were from Myanmar.



A 32-year-old man from the largest city, Yangon, explained why he fled to Thailand: ``My brother and all my friends are pro-democracy forces. I have no intention of joining the army and shooting them.'' .



A university official said, ``This is the highest number of applicants since the university opened.We would like to do our best to provide as much support as possible to students from Myanmar.''



The military plans to conscript the first 5,000 people next month, but has announced that women will not be eligible, in an effort to calm the unrest and opposition among young people.

Young people aiming for universities in Thailand to avoid conscription

Since Myanmar is a member of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), you do not need a visa to enter Thailand for a stay of less than 14 days.



Mau Pyu (pseudonym, 32 years old), who came to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand from Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, took an online interview to enter a university in Chiang Mai on the 5th of this month.



"I fled to Thailand because I don't feel safe at home," said Maw Pyu, who has organized protests against the military in the past. "All young people in Myanmar want to leave the country. They don't want to be drafted. That's the main reason."



Furthermore, his twin brother, who joined a pro-democracy armed group last year, was also a major reason for him wanting to leave the country and avoid being drafted.



Mau Pyu said: "My brother and all my friends are pro-democracy forces. I'm not going to join the army and shoot them. I want to avoid the draft because I'm against killing each other. I don't want to shoot anyone. "I don't want to get shot at, and I don't want anyone to point a gun at me. I had no intention of staying in Myanmar, which is under military dictatorship. I want to stay in Thailand for a long time no matter what."

Associate Professor Yoshihiro Nakanishi, Kyoto University: “It will not go the way the military wants.”

Yoshihiro Nakanishi, an associate professor at Kyoto University's Center for Southeast Asian Studies, who is familiar with the situation in Myanmar, said, ``In the first place, young people were trying to go overseas, but with this draft conscription system, young people who want to escape conscription are going abroad. There is a kind of social panic as the new recruits hand over their weapons work for the military.Are they going to point their guns at the military at some point?The military is proceeding with conscription without examining these matters. "The military's plan to increase the number of soldiers and change the war situation to its advantage is unlikely to go well."