Instagram/Bemondce
Having already married in Germany, gay couple Naparuj Mond Kaendi and Thorsten Mid recently shared a photo of their Thai ceremony on Instagram
The Thai Justice Minister wants to move quickly on legislation to make same-sex civil unions legal.
A Justice Ministry subcommittee has just finished drafting a Civil Partnership Bill. The head of the subcommittee said the draft Bill will be ready for parliament in September. From there the Thai parliament will vote on passing it into law.
Pitikan Sithidej, director-general of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department (RLPD) told the Bangkok Post that Justice Minister ACM Prajin Janthong, wants to move quickly on the Bill.
‘Ever since the Justice Ministry began pushing the bill, the feedback from the LGBT community has been good,’ Pitikan said.
‘More than 60,000 signatures were collected to show support for the bill. It is believed there are still many more quiet supporters since many in the LGBT community have yet to show their support.’
The subcommittee has just completed a national public consultation on the Bill before it finishes the draft. It passed the draft onto the RLPD for review this week. The RLPD has until September to finish its review. It will then pass the draft to the Justice Minister to approve before he shows it to the Cabinet.
There’s a bit more to do yet
But Pitikan said the government must undergo a number of tasks before introducing the Bill to parliament.
She said the government must do several things before introducing the Bill to parliament. They are; raising social awareness about same-sex civil unions, research how many registered same-sex couples would have rights in Thailand and figure out which government department would be responsible for the same-sex unions.
Finally, Pitikan said the new law must be written so it can eventually allow same-sex couples to marry.
Thailand is one of the most safest countries for LGBTI people in Asia. It has moved quickly on the stalled same-sex union laws after Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled in 2017 that lawmakers in that country must make marriage equality legal within two years.
