NONTHABURI, Thailand – The crowd started trickling in to a mall on the outskirts of Bangkok around 7am on a recent Thursday. Hundreds of people showed up, most of them men. They were there to pick a card from a jar.

Draw a black card and go home free. Draw a red card and report for duty in Thailand’s military.

Freelance event planner Patchaya Tharongphon, 23, was on edge.

“I have a 1½-year-old daughter,” he said. “I would love to see her grow, not be away for two years.”

The military, along with the monarchy, is one of the most powerful institutions in Thailand. Its leadership has repeatedly intervened in politics by staging coups.

The current form of the military draft, which is mandatory for men, has been in place for decades, and tens of thousands of recruits are conscripted every year.

But conscription remains one of the most divisive issues in Thailand, even though there has been a surge in nationalism following a war with Cambodia in 2025.

On May 12, Thailand’s Constitutional Court is scheduled to deliver a ruling in a closely watched case about the validity of the law that governs the draft.

One way out of military service is for high school-age boys to complete three years of defence training, which is held in specialised centres that can be hard for students to reach, particularly in rural areas.

Most men become eligible for the draft when they turn 21. Health permitting, they can either volunteer or find themselves placed in a lottery held...