Rainbow flags filled the streets of Bangkok on Saturday at the start of Pride Month as Thailand inches closer to recognising same-sex marriages.
Thousands of LGBTQ+ revellers and activists gathered for the Bangkok Pride Parade that attracted thousands of participants and spectators along Rama I Road.
“This year’s Pride Parade can be considered one of the biggest because it coincides with the passing of the same-sex marriage bill,” said Avorawan Ramwan, who joined the parade with her partner.
The country is preparing to be the first in Southeast Asia — and just the third in Asia — to legalise same-sex marriage as the marriage equality bill heads for final readings in the Senate later this month.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin also joined the parade, dressed in a rainbow shirt.
“It is a basic right to choose who to love,” he said in a post on the social media platform X.
The bill sailed through the House in March and overwhelmingly passed first reading in the Senate in April. It will have its second and third readings in the upper chamber this month.
“The Senate will likely pass the bill on June 18,” Senator Wallop Tangkananuruk, chairman of the Senate committee on same-sex marriage, told Reuters.
If there are no amendments from the lower house, the government will send it for royal approval, Mr Wallop said, adding that the law would come into force 120 days after it is published in the Royal Gazette.
“Pride events are meaningful, and Thailand is known worldwide as a paradise for the LGBT community. Therefore, we must help promote and advocate for it, as well as implement laws to support the LGBT community,” said transgender woman Aunchanaporn Pilsauta.
- Related: Rainbows that don’t wash away
A couple from from China stretch out on a rainbow flag at the Bangkok Pride Parade. (Photo: Reuters)
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin takes part in the Bangkok Pride Parade on Saturday. (Photo: Reuters)
