The Prime Minister of Thailand, on Tuesday, made the major announcement that his cabinet has approved a bill providing legal recognition to same-sex marriages. This pertinent piece of information was brought to light by Thai government spokesperson Karom Polpornklang during a press briefing reported by Thai media.
The bill in question is designed to adjust the language in Thailand’s Civil and Commercial Code, aiming for inclusivity of the LGBTQ community. As part of the changes proposed, terms such as ‘wives’ and ‘husbands’ are to be replaced with more neutral language such as ‘persons’ and ‘engaged couples’ according to the Thai legal database Siam-Legal.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has a track record of advocating for Thailand’s vibrant LGBTQ community. Prior to his political career, Thavisin instituted several LGBTQ-friendly employee policies at his property company as documented in these reports. In his tenure as Prime Minister, Thavisin has committed to considering bills for gender recognition and has thrown his support behind a Thai campaign to host World Pride 2028. Thavisin’s political affiliations lie with Pheu Thai, a populist political party which collaborates with the reformist party Move Forward.
Thavisin’s coalition established remarkable dominance in the May 2023 election, securing a landslide victory over more conservative, military-backed parties as reported in this JURIST coverage.
The same-sex marriage recognition bill already enjoys widespread legislative backing. In fact, a similar bill that championed marriage equality was brought to parliamentary debate last year but never made it to a final vote according to Al Jazeera. Going forward, the current proposal’s next steps involve gaining approval from the legislature and the King of Thailand. If this endeavour is successful, Thailand will be setting a benchmark as the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize same-sex couples in this manner.