Hundreds of same-sex couples yesterday became legally married amid scenes of celebration across Thailand, as the country’s landmark Marriage Equality Bill came into effect.
The rainbow pride flag flew from the Thai Parliament and special pop-up wedding events were held in malls and district offices across the country in order to register the eager backlog of marriage recipients, some of whom had waited decades to finally tie the knot.
A registration booth registered dozens of couples at a special registration event in a conference hall above the Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok, Bloomberg reported. “Rainbow colors were everywhere,” it said. “Pride flags and other items were handed out to couples and guests, while confetti littered the floor as people celebrated winning marriage equality.” According to Bangkok Pride, 1,839 same-sex couples were married yesterday, including 661 in Bangkok and 185 at the registration even at Siam Paragon.
Last year, Thailand’s parliament passed its Marriage Equality Bill, making it the third country in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow same-sex marriage. The bill was then signed into law by King Vajiralongkorn in September, and came into effect 120 days afterward.
The bill, the result of two decades of efforts by activists inside and outside of government, grants full legal, financial, and medical rights for marriage partners of either sex.
The law has amended 68 provisions of the country’s Civil and Commercial Code to change the composition of a marriage from “a man and a woman” to “two individuals.” It will also change their official legal status from “husband and wife” to “married couple.” The changes will grant LGBT couples the same rights of those in heterosexual marriages, including various tax deductions, the right to adopt children, the right to inherit their spouse’s assets, and the right to access state welfare if their spouse is a civil servant.
The legal recognition of same-sex marriage was a campaign promise of the Pheu Thai Party ahead of the 2023 general election. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra yesterday hailed the successful passage and implementation of the law as a massive step forward for Thailand. “Many couples have likely endured numerous trials due to the lack of legal recognition, but today, all love is acknowledged by law,” she wrote in a Facebook Reel. “May all love flourish and grow beautifully in every corner of Thailand, a country that embraces diversity and every kind of love.”
Her predecessor Srettha Thavisin, who attended and spoke at the special registration event in Bangkok, also managed to get a dig in at newly-inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump, who this week signed an executive order declaring that “there are only two genders – male and female.” “Recently a country’s leader said that there were only two genders,” Srettha said, as per The Guardian, “but I think we are more open-minded than that.”
While Thailand enjoys a reputation as one of Asia’s most liberal countries, with widespread support for marriage equality, the political establishment has been stubborn in inscribing equal rights in law and past attempts to move toward the legal recognition of same-sex marriage have been stymied by conservatives.
“We were so excited that we couldn’t sleep last night,” Phisit Sirihirunchai, a 36-year-old police officer, told Bloomberg. Referring to his now-spouse Chanathip, 42, he said, “The law used to see us as friends, but now it recognizes us. We don’t have to worry so much about the future.”