The bill passed with 399 to 10 seats in the lower house, but it still needs to be approved by the Senate.
On Wednesday, the legislature passed a same-sex wedding bill in a landslide, opening the door for Thailand to become the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize marriage equality. The move was welcomed by Thai LGBTQ rights advocates.
Thai campaigners have struggled for decades against liberal values and attitudes, despite Thailand’s loving standing among the world’s LGBTQ community.
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The bill passed with 399 to 10 seats in the lower house, but it still needs to be approved by the Senate and endorsed by the king before becoming the law of the land.
“Thailand is eventually accepted and recognized as truly ‘heaven for LGBTQI'”, Chanya Rattanathada, 27, told AFP in the corridors outside the election room.
The final vote was accompanied by a small burst of applause and cheering, with one member waving a rainbow symbol.
“Today, culture has proved to us that they care about LGBT right”, said Tunyawaj Kamolwongwat, an MP with the democratic Move Forward Party, which has long pushed for LGBTQ rights.
“We may eventually enjoy the same rights as another.”
The plan may shift references to “men”, “women”, “husbands”, and “wives” in the government’s marriage law to sex-negative terms.
Following the passage of the act, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin declared he was “proud of our satisfaction.”
On the social media platform X, he wrote, “The passage of this law in the legislature nowadays is a happy moment for Thai society who will walk up toward social equality and respect variations.”
Simply Taiwan and Nepal recognize same-sex unions across Asia. Last month, India’s highest court deferred the determination to congress, and Hong Kong’s top prosecutor stopped just short of granting full relationship right.
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“It’s a big step for our region—it is the first in Southeast Asia”, Mookdapa Yangyuenpradorn, a spokeswoman with dissident group Fortify Rights, told AFP.
Mookdapa expressed wish that the bill’s after levels would go smoothly, ensuring that her nation “will be on par with the global level in terms of LGBT right.”
The cabinet’s decision last year gave the go-ahead for the legislature discussion, and the vote follows.
The prime minister has firmly backed the LGBTQ community, calling the marriage equality plan a hot button, and claiming that it will enhance community structures next month.
Pheu Thai party spokesman Danuphorn Punnakanta welcomed the outcome of the lower house following the vote.
“Today, Thailand is one step ahead in terms of making everyone equal,” he said.
He emphasized that the law would not violate the rights of heterosexual couples but would expand them for all relationships, describing it as one for “all Thai people.”
“It’s only a win-win situation.”
While Thailand has a reputation for tolerance, much of the Buddhist-majority country remains conservative and LGBTQ people, while highly visible, still face barriers and discrimination.
For more than a decade, activists have been fighting for same-sex unions, but their efforts have failed in a nation where coups and mass street demonstrations regularly upend politics.
Thai lawmakers approved two bills that would allow same-sex unions and two others that would allow civil partnerships in 2022.
However, the legislation was voided as a result of the dissolution of parliament, allowing for a year-long general election.
Plaifah Kyoka Shodladd, 18, told AFP that as the new law approached final approval, there was a lot of excitement around it.
But for now, they said, “We are happy.”
