Bangkok — In a historic move, lawmakers in Thailand's lower house of Parliament have overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill. This bill, if fully enacted, would establish Thailand as the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize equal rights for marriage partners of any gender.
The bill, which received the support of 400 out of 415 attending members of the House of Representatives, aims to amend the Civil and Commercial Code by replacing the terms "men and women" and "husband and wife" with "individuals" and "marriage partners." This significant change would grant LGBTQ+ couples access to full legal, financial, and medical rights.
The next steps for the bill involve review by the Senate, which typically does not reject legislation approved by the lower house, followed by submission to the king for royal endorsement. If successful, Thailand would become the first country or region in Southeast Asia to implement such a law, following in the footsteps of Taiwan and Nepal in Asia.
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Danuphorn Punnakanta, a spokesperson of the governing Pheu Thai party and president of a committee overseeing the marriage equality bill, said in Parliament that the amendment is for "everyone in Thailand" regardless of their gender, and would not deprive heterosexual couples of any rights.
"For this law, we would like to return rights to the (LGBTQ+ group). We are not giving them rights. These are the fundamental rights that this group of people … has lost," he said.
Lawmakers, however, did not approve inclusion of the word "parent" in addition to "father and mother" in the law, which activists said would limit the rights of some LGBTQ+ couples to form a family and raise children.
Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity but has struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law.
The new government led by Pheu Thai, which took office last year, has made marriage equality one of its main goals.
