South-East Asia says yes for the first time
Bangkok, a shopping mall, almost two hundred couples: Thailand becomes the first country in South-East Asia to open marriage to all.
On 23 January 2025, a place in Bangkok otherwise known mainly for luxury boutiques filled up with wedding couples. In the Siam Paragon shopping mall, couples in suits and festive dresses queued to get married. That day, Thailand's marriage equality law came into force. As the first country in South-East Asia and the third in Asia after Taiwan and Nepal, Thailand thus opened marriage to same-sex couples.
The road there had taken more than a decade. Several attempts had failed, not least because of political upheavals in the country. In June 2024, the Senate finally approved the law by a large majority, and the King's signature followed in the autumn. After the statutory waiting period, couples could at last register with the authorities.
The law is simple and yet far-reaching. In the Civil and Commercial Code, terms such as "husband" and "wife" were replaced by the neutral word for spouse. Same-sex couples thus receive the same rights as everyone else: in inheritance, adoption, medical decisions and survivors' pensions. Equality is not complete, however. On parenthood, the law still speaks of mother and father, which activists are already criticising.
On the first day, a good eighteen hundred same-sex couples registered across the country, considerably more female than male couples. Many used the moment for a public declaration in front of family and friends. There were special celebrations on the holiday island of Koh Samui and in the seaside resort of Hua Hin. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra sent a video message, stressing that everyone should be able to live as they understand themselves.
Thailand had long been regarded as a tolerant country where queer people could be visible but had no rights. On that January day, tolerance finally became equality.