Why Thailand became a haven for LGBT couples

“It’s been a long, tear-filled struggle for us.”

This is how Ann “Waaddao” Chumaporn describes the years leading up to this moment – ​​where hundreds of couples get married in a riot of color and celebration as Thailand legalizes same-sex marriage.

And the same question that was heard throughout the long campaign for marriage equality law past the question once again arises: why Thailand? Why nowhere else, except Taiwan and Nepal, in Asia?

People think they know the answer. Thailand is known for being open and welcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. They have been visible for a long time in all areas. Thai people are easy-going in almost everything. “Mai pen rai” – it doesn’t matter – is a national slogan. Buddhist beliefs, followed by more than 90% of Thais, do not prohibit LGBT lifestyles. Marriage equality was therefore inevitable.

Except that wasn’t the case. “It hasn’t been easy,” says Ms. Waaddao, who organizes the Bangkok Pride March.

The first Pride March in Thailand took place only 25 years ago. At the time, it was difficult to get police approval and the march was a chaotic, blurry event. After 2006, only two marches took place until 2022. In 2009, a planned pride march in Chiang Mai had to be abandoned due to the threat of violence.

“We were not accepted, neither by our own families, nor by society,” adds Ms. Waaddao. “There were times when we thought marriage equality would never be a reality, but we never gave up.”

Despite Thailand’s general tolerance of LGBT people, achieving equal rights, including marriage, required a determined campaign to change the attitudes of the Thai bureaucracy and society. And attitudes have changed.

When Chakkrit “Ink” Vadhanavira started dating his partner in 2001, they were both actors playing lead roles in television series. At that time, homosexuality was still officially described by the Thai Ministry of Health as a mental illness.

“At the time, society could not accept that leading male roles were played by a gay man. There was a lot of gossip about us in the media, most of it false, which stressed us out a lot,” remembers Mr. Chakkrit.

“We decided then that if we wanted to date, we had to leave showbiz.”

They’re still together, but they stayed out of the spotlight for over 20 years, running a successful production company.

A lot has changed in that time – and their industry is partly to be congratulated for it.

The way LGBT characters are portrayed in Thai TV series, from comedic oddities to mainstream roles, has made a big difference, according to Tinnaphop Sinsomboonthong, an assistant professor at Thammasat University who identifies as queer.

“Today, they represent us as normal characters, as we see in real life,” he says. “The kind of LGBTQ+ colleague you might have in the office, or your LGBTQ+ neighbor. It really helped change perceptions and values ​​across all generations.”

The so-called Boy Love dramas helped bring the rest of society to the idea of ​​not only tolerance, but also total acceptance and equal rights for the community.

These romantic TV series featuring love stories between handsome young men have grown immensely in popularity over the past decade, especially during the Covid pandemic.

They are now one of Thailand’s most successful cultural exports, with a large following in countries such as China. Series like My School President and Love Sick have been viewed hundreds of millions of times on streaming networks.

At the same time, activists have become more focused and united in their attempt to change the law. The many different LGBT groups came together as part of the Change 1448 campaign – 1448 is the clause in the Thai Civil Code covering the definition of marriage – and later as part of the Rainbow Coalition for Marriage Equality.

They joined forces with other groups fighting for more rights and freedoms in Thailand and learned to work with political parties in Parliament to persuade them to change their position on the law.

The resumption of Pride marches in 2022 and the government’s recognition and promotion of Thailand’s appeal as an attractive destination for LGBT travelers have also helped change public perception.

“We didn’t fight, we negotiated,” says Mr Tinnaphop. “We knew we had to speak to Thai society and, little by little, we changed our attitude.”

Parliament’s passage of a marriage equality law was also facilitated by political developments in Thailand.

For five years after the 2014 coup, the country was governed by a conservative military government, willing to only consider recognizing civil partnership for LGBT couples, without enjoying full rights like inheritance.

But in the 2019 election that returned Thailand to civilian rule, a young, new reformist party called Future Forward, which fully supported marriage equality, performed surprisingly well. They won the third largest share of seats, revealing a growing thirst for change in Thailand.

When a year later Future Forward was disbanded With a controversial court verdict, it sparked months of student-led protests calling for radical reforms, including curbing the power of the monarchy.

LGBT activists played an important role in these protests, giving them greater national visibility. The protests eventually subsided and many leaders were arrested for questioning the role of the monarchy.

But in the 2023 elections, Future Forward’s successor, calling himself Move Forward, even more efficient than in 2019, winning more seats than any other party. Once again, it was clear that the desire for change was felt among Thais of all ages.

Move Forward was blocked from forming a government by conservatives who opposed its call for comprehensive political reforms.

But at that time, marriage equality was less controversial. Few were opposed to it. And its passage gave the cumbersome and unpopular coalition government that had been formed without Move Forward a quick result that could please most of the country.

Thailand, however, is an exception in Asia. Few other countries in the region are likely to follow suit.

The influence of Islam in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei means that the notion of marriage equality is doomed to failure. LGBT communities there face discrimination and prosecution; in Brunei, sexual relations between men are punishable by death.

In the Philippines, LGBT couples living openly together are increasingly accepted. But the Roman Catholic Church vehemently opposes same-sex marriage.

In Vietnam, as in Thailand, there are no religious or ideological barriers, but campaigning to change the law, as happened in Thailand, is difficult under a repressive regime. The same is true in China. Until the ruling Communist Party approves marriage equality, which it doesn’t seem to want to do, it can’t happen.

Even in democracies like Japan and South Korea – where political parties are largely conservative and dominated by older men – the outlook looks bleak.

“It’s largely conservative Christians who are blocking it,” says Chae-yoon Han, executive director of the Beyond the Rainbow Foundation in South Korea.

“Most, if not all, politicians in President Yoon’s conservative party are devout Christians, and they have presented marriage equality as a “left-wing agenda” that could potentially open society up to left-wing communist power. »

India looked set to legalize same-sex marriage in 2023, when the decision came back to the Supreme Court – but the judges refusedsaying that it was up to Parliament.

Thailand therefore hopes to benefit from its pioneer status. Tourism is one of the few areas of the Thai economy that is doing well in the post-pandemic recovery, and the country is seen as a safe and welcoming destination for LGBT vacationers.

A growing number of same-sex couples from other Asian countries are now choosing to live here.

The legal recognition they can obtain for their marriage will allow them to raise children and grow old together with almost all the rights and protections afforded to heterosexual couples.