Kath Khangpiboon. | Photo: Twitter/@kathnong
Thailand’s first ever Bill to allow civil same-sex partnerships is one step closer to becoming law.
The Justice Ministry is putting the finishing touches on the draft Civil Partnership Bill and should be ready by September. A subcommittee in the Justice Ministry has been drafting the Bill since earlier this year.
The Ministry formed the subcommittee after the Justice Minister promised to act on a petition asking for the government to act on a stalled gay rights Bill.
If passed, the Bill will give same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.
‘The bill is now being vetted by the ministry. We expect to finish considering it by the end of September. After that, it will be forwarded to the cabinet for approval before being submitted to the National Legislative Assembly for deliberation,’ said the chief of the Right and Liberties Protection Department, Pitikan Sithidej.
Pitikan said the subcommittee expanded on an earlier draft Bill to allow same-sex couples greater equality.
But before the Bill becomes law, it must first go through a number of public hearings.
It was at one of the first public hearings where Pitikan revealed the Bill will be ready by September.
No same surname
The Bill will allow same-sex couples to have more parity with straight couples. The increased rights include: inheritance, welfare benefits, adoption, hospital visitation rights and tax breaks. But the Bill in its current form will not allow couples to take on the same surname.
LGBTI advocacy groups have welcomed the Bill.
‘The civil partnership bill’s importance is close to that of the marriage law,’ Kittinun Daramadhaj, president of the Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand told the Bangkok Post.
‘It is a significant movement to guarantee basic rights for single sex people whose rights have not been protected by the law.’
Thailand has been hotly tipped to become the second country in Asia to allow same-sex marriage after Taiwan’s Constitutional Court gave it the green light last year.
