Thailand's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage on Wednesday, moving it much closer to becoming law.
The bill passed by a vote of 400 to 10, with a minority of abstentions, and the bill now goes to the Senate. If the bill is passed and approved by Thailand's king, the country will become the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize same-sex marriage. In broader Asia, only Taiwan and Nepal have done so.
Thailand's bill describes marriage as a partnership between two individuals, rather than between a woman and a man. It also provides equal rights for LGBTQ couples, including various tax breaks, the right to inherit property, and the right to consent to medical treatment for an incapacitated partner. The draft law also grants adoption rights. Thai law currently only allows heterosexual couples to adopt children, but single women can also adopt children with special needs.
“This law reform is for all Thai people. It is a starting point to create equality,” MP Danuforn Punnakanta, who chairs the House of Commons' Marriage Equality Committee, told parliament. “We understand that this law is not a one-size-fits-all solution to all problems, but it is at least a step towards equality in Thai society.”
The legislation took more than a decade to enact and was plagued by obstacles stemming from political turmoil and disagreements over the approach to take and what to include in the bill. In December, Congress passed four bills related to same-sex marriage. One was proposed by Prime Minister Sureta Thabishin's government, and three additional versions of his were considered by the Forward Party, the Democratic Party and the private sector. These four were combined into a single draft and passed on Wednesday.
“This is the biggest victory,” said Nada Chaiyajit, a law lecturer at Chiang Rai's Mae Fah Luang University, who has supported the law from the beginning. “We have been working hard with the committee. This is not just an LGBTIQ issue, it applies to everyone. Equality.”
Although Thailand is one of the most open places in the world for LGBTQ people, some elements of the Buddhist-dominated culture are socially conservative.