Thailand’s Marriage Equality Bill is set to become law on January 23, 2025.
The bill was endorsed by His Majesty the King and published in the Royal Gazette on September 24 last year. It makes Thailand the third country or territory in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to recognize same-sex marriage.
The law allows same-sex couples to marry and grants them the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.
These rights include the ability to adopt children, manage and inherit their spouse’s assets, the right to divorce, access to state welfare if their spouse is a civil servant, and tax deductions.
The Thai LGBTQ+ community considers it a victory after having fought for their rights for more than two decades and sees the new law as a monumental step towards equal rights in Thailand.
According to the Justice Ministry, it would also review other bills to guarantee that same-sex couples have the same rights as heterosexual couples to establish a family, such as the surrogacy bill, nationalities bill and gender recognition bill.
Couples can register their marriage at 18 years old or over. However, those under 20 require parental consent.
The law uses gender-neutral terms for married couples, referring to them as “two individuals” instead of “a man and a woman” and replacing “husband and wife” with “spouses”.
Bangkok Pride and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) plan to organize a mass wedding on the day the bill becomes law. The event will be open to any same-sex couples residing in Thailand or abroad.
Source: Bangkok Post