Thailand’s king has signed a landmark marriage equality bill into law, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize same-sex unions.
The bill passed the Senate in June but required royal approval to become law. It was published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday and will take effect on January 22 next year.
Activists have praised the move as historic, marking the culmination of years of advocacy for marriage equality.
Thailand has long been considered a relative haven for the LGBTQ+ community in a region where such acceptance is uncommon.
The new law uses gender-neutral language, replacing terms like “husbands”, “wives”, “men”, and “women”, and grants same-sex couples the right to adopt and inherit.
“Today we’re not only getting to write our names in marriage certificates, but we are also writing a page in history… that tells us that love never set a condition of who we were born to be,” Ann Chumaporn, a longtime LGBTQ+ activist and co-founder of the Bangkok Pride movement, told the BBC.
“It’s a triumph of equality and human dignity.”
She said she plans to organise a mass wedding for more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ couples on 22 January.
“[The legal recognition] means we are fully accepted and can live our lives without conditions or compromises,” said advertising strategist Kwankaow Koosakulnirund.
“Thailand’s LGBTQ+ community can now look toward a future beyond relationships, embracing the sense of pride that this law brings,” he said.
“We are all delighted and excited. We’ve been fighting for our rights for over 10 years, and now it’s finally happening,” another activist, Siritata Ninlapruek, told AFP news agency.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra posted on X: “Congratulations on everyone’s love. #LoveWins.”
Former PM Srettha Thavisin, who has been vocal in his support for the bill, also applauded the development as a “significant step” for Thailand.
“Equity and equality have become concrete in the Thai society. Gender diversity will eventually be fully accepted. Congratulations,” he wrote on X.
Once the law takes effect, Thailand will become the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow same-sex couples to marry.
In 2019, Taiwan’s parliament became the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Nepal registered its first same-sex union in November last year, following a Supreme Court ruling in favor of such unions five months earlier.
This occurred just a month after India’s Supreme Court ruled against same-sex marriage, leaving the decision to the government, which announced plans to establish a panel to consider granting more legal rights to same-sex couples.
In 2022, Singapore repealed a colonial-era law banning gay sex but amended its constitution to prevent courts from challenging the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.