Couples get married as same-sex marriage law takes effect in Thailand: NPR

SINGAPORE – Hundreds of same-sex couples tied the knot across Thailand on Thursday, as the country became the first in Southeast Asia to legally recognize equal marriage.

More than 150 same-sex weddings took place in a luxury shopping center in Bangkok alone, as members of the LGBTQ+ community celebrated the historic ruling.

“I feel more secure in our lives because we can be a family and be recognized as a couple in society,” Anticha Sangchai told NPR.

Sangchai was finally able to legally formalize her marriage to her wife Vorawan Ramwan, more than two years after their original wedding ceremony.

“This is special for us because this is a day full of history in Thailand,” said Sangchai.

Thailand’s parliament passed the historic same-sex marriage law last June, joining Taiwan in doing so only countries in Asia to recognize marriage equality.

“Thailand is the perfect country to do this because the society is really open to gays,” said Tom Tan, owner of GCIrcuit, the organizer of Asia’s largest gay dance festival.

“You can actually just be gay and do well in Thailand,” Tan told NPR.

The new legislation means that same-sex couples will now receive the same legal recognition as heterosexual couples, including full financial, medical and legal rights.

“This is more about building a life together and having the legal rights to protect what we build together,” said Tan, a Singaporean citizen who plans to legalize his marriage to his Thai partner.

The same-sex marriage law was written into law by Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn last June, after decades of campaigning by LGBTQ+ activists. The fight for marriage equality in Thailand has long been hampered by the country’s turbulent domestic politics, including a military coup in 2014.

“It made it extremely difficult for parliament to move forward with this bill, or even have discussions on gender justice,” said Plaifah Kyoka Shodladd, an LGBTQ+ activist and member of the Thai parliament’s marriage equality selection committee.

Shodladd credits a wave of pro-democracy youth protests in 2020 for reigniting the movement to recognize same-sex marriage.

“That influenced political parties to campaign for LGBTQ+-related laws and policies as it became a landmark policy to win the popular vote of the younger generation,” Shodladd said.

The new bill also grants same-sex couples the right to adopt, but Tom Tan says cultural biases remain that need to be overcome.

“The next step will be for society to fully accept that gay parents can have children and that children have gay parents and are not ridiculed at school,” Tan said.

Tan says there is still a long way to go before other countries in Southeast Asia take similar steps to recognize marriage equality. In his native Singapore, same-sex marriage remains illegal, although the government in 2022 repealed a law that criminalized sex between men.

“I feel like things are moving, but obviously not as fast as in Thailand,” Tan said. “I still think it will be a long time in Singapore.”

But Tan and his partner Oui plan to formally recognize their marriage in Thailand later this year.

The pair are “super excited and excited,” says Tan, as Thailand embraces its status as a hub for the region’s LGBTQ+ community.