Activist and conscientious objector Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has been found guilty of draft evasion for protesting military conscription by refusing to participate in the draft in April 2024.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said today (20 July) that the Samut Prakan District Court found Netiwit guilty, noting that the Constitution Court has already ruled that the Military Service Act does not violate the Constitution. It also said that an exception is not made on the grounds of religious beliefs or conscience.

He was given a 6-month prison sentence, suspended for 1 year because it was his first prison sentence.

Netiwit was charged with draft evasion after he refused to take part in military conscription in April 2024 as an act of protest against compulsory military conscription in Thailand, which he said is a violation of human rights and personal moral beliefs. It is outdated, ineffective, undermines democracy, and enforces a system of oppression. He was indicted in May 2025.

Netiwit is an education reform activist and has also worked with communities surrounding Chulalongkorn University facing eviction and rising rents. He is now a graduate student in the Harvard Divinity School’s Master of Theological Studies programme.

He has long been vocal about his objection to compulsory military conscription, having published a declaration on his 18th birthday saying that he is a conscientious objector and will not participate in military conscription, which he said is obsolete, and asking why supporters of peace and nonviolent action cannot reject conscription. His trial is said to be the first trial of a conscientious objector in Thailand.