Thailand markets itself as a liberal destination for LGBTQ people and earns billions of tourist dollars from it, yet the nation still doesn’t recognize same-sex unions. That could change as soon as this year.
After nearly a decade, the country now has three potential paths toward recognizing same-sex partnerships, short of full marriage — a same-sex-partnership bill that received the Cabinet’s nod in 2020, a proposed legal amendment that would allow same-sex marriage and a court ruling in April on the constitutionality of denying same-sex couples the right to marry.
These signs point to Thailand possibly becoming the next country in Asia to recognize gay partnerships, a significant move in a region that lags far behind Europe and the Americas in LGBTQ rights.