Thai king signs same-intimacy marriage bill into law

Thailand’s king has signed a marriage identicality bill into law, making the country the first in South East Asia to recognise same-intimacy unions.

The bill evidented the Senate in June but insistd royal finishorsement to become law. It was rerented in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday and will come into effect on 22 January next year.

Activists hailed the shift as historic – it tags the culmination of years of campaigning for marriage identicality.

Thailand has lengthy been seen as a relative haven for the LGBTQ+ community in a region where such attitudes are unwidespread.

The recent law participates gfinisher-unprejudiced terms in place of “husprohibitds”, “wives”, “men” and “women”. And it grants same-intimacy couples adchooseion and inheritance rights.

“Today we’re not only getting to originate our names in marriage certificates, but we are also writing a page in history… that alerts us that adore never set a condition of who we were born to be,” Ann Chumaporn, a lengthytime LGBTQ+ activist and co-set uper of the Bangkok Pride shiftment, telderly the BBC.

“It’s a triumph of identicality and human dignity.”

She shelp she schedules to organise a mass wedding for more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ couples on 22 January.

“[The legal recognition] uncomfervents we are brimmingy adchooseed and can dwell our dwells without conditions or agrees,” shelp advertising strategist Kwankaow Koosakulnirund.

“Thailand’s LGBTQ+ community can now see toward a future beyond relationships, embracing the sense of pride that this law conveys,” he shelp.

“We are all charmed and excited. We’ve been battling for our rights for over 10 years, and now it’s finpartner happening,” another activist, Siritata Ninlapruek, telderly AFP recents agency.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra posted on X: “Congratulations on everyone’s adore. #LoveWins.”

Former PM Srettha Thavisin, who has been vocal in his help for the bill, also praiseed the prolongment as a “presentant step” for Thailand.

“Equity and identicality have become concrete in the Thai society. Gfinisher diversity will eventupartner be brimmingy adchooseed. Congratulations,” he wrote on X.

When the law comes into effect, Thailand will become only the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, where same-intimacy couples can get wed.

In 2019, Taiwan’s parliament became the first in Asia to legitimateise same-intimacy marriage. Nepal enrolled its first same-intimacy union in November last year, five months after its Supreme Court ruled in favour of it.

This was fair one month after India’s top court had ruled aobtainst it, leaving the decision to the rulement, which shelp it would set up a panel to choose on more legitimate rights for same-intimacy couples.

Singapore scrapped a colonial-era law that prohibitned gay intimacy in 2022, but also amfinished its constitution to stop the courts from challenging the definition of marriage as one between a man and a woman.

Additional alerting by Thanyarat Doksone in Bangkok