Members of the LGBTQ community and allies take part in the Bangkok Pride Parade in Thailand on June 1, 2024. Thailand looks set to become the first Southeast Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage.
Bangkok resident and parade attendee Karin Chai, 47, said this year’s event feels more serious than its previous iterations. “We have been cooperating with the Bangkok community,” Karin said. “The government sector realized that the LGBT community is also one of the communities that we should be understanding.”
People carry a large rainbow-colored flag as they take part in the LGBTQ+ parade to mark the Pride Month celebrations in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 1, 2024.Waddao Ann Chumaporn, president and founder of Naruemit Pride, said in a press release shared ahead of the event that this year is important for the LGBTQ+ community specifically because of the bill’s looming passage.
If passed, Thailand will be the third country in Asia—and the first among Southeast Asian nations—with marriage equality, following Taiwan in 2019 and Nepal in 2023. The law will recognize marriage registrations of same-sex partners aged 18 and up, as well as their rights to inheritance, tax allowances, and child adoption.