{"id":5784,"date":"2025-02-06T10:19:32","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T15:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/?p=5784"},"modified":"2025-02-06T10:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T15:22:07","slug":"thousands-sign-up-on-first-day-of-same-sex-marriage-registration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/2025\/02\/06\/thousands-sign-up-on-first-day-of-same-sex-marriage-registration\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands Sign Up on First Day of Same-Sex Marriage Registration"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a long-awaited day of joy and affirmation. At city halls around Thailand and its embassies around the world, hundreds of same-sex couples legally registered their marriages on the first day that the Kingdom\u2019s marriage equality law came into effect.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting for this day for 17 years,\u201d said Ploynaplus Chirasukon posing with her wife Kwanporn Kongpetch after receiving a marriage license in Bangkok. They were one of about same-sex 300 couples who registered their unions in the capital. \u201cWe hope to see even more equality in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a bold step forward for human rights, Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia and the third in Asia to legally recognize same-sex marriages when it passed its marriage equality law last September. LGBTQ+ and human rights activists had been campaigning for the law for more than a decade before finally achieving success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis marriage equality law marks the beginning of Thai society\u2019s greater awareness of gender diversity, and our embrace of everyone regardless of sexual orientation, race, or religion \u2014 our affirmation that everyone is entitled to equal rights and dignity,\u201d Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said in a recorded message played at a mass wedding party in Bangkok.<\/p>\n

To ensure everything went smoothly, Bangkok\u2019s city government organized workshops for civil servants in charge of handling marriage registration in all its district offices. They included lectures raising awareness about gender diversity and guidance on how to properly communicate with those who come for the service. The Interior Ministry has provided similar guidance for its staff handling marriage registrations around the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt the proudest moment of my life that I could do this and let people know, let the industry and friends around me know that I could do it,\u201d said Nina Chetniphat Chuadkhunthod as she headed with her partner to a grand celebration for the couples at a Bangkok shopping mall.<\/p>\n

But aside from the joy in being able to openly celebrate their love, many also expressed satisfaction that their rights as married couples will be legally recognized in all facets of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we go to the hospital, I can tell them that this is my wife, this is my partner, she makes decisions for me, things like that. Unlike before, they wouldn\u2019t accept it in the hospital,\u201d said Philippine national Ana Boncan and her Thai wife Siri Wattanavikij.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that as two human beings, we should be granted the same basic legal rights as heterosexual couples,\u201d said Patherine Khunnares, a web designer who wed researcher Vivian Chullamon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a complete family in spirit, but legal recognition would alleviate our future anxieties. In the end, we aren\u2019t asking for anything special\u2014we just want a simple, happy family life,\u201d Patherine said.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bangkokpride.official<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Thailand Focus<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a long-awaited day of joy and affirmation. At city halls around Thailand and its embassies around the world, hundreds of same-sex couples legally registered their marriages on the <\/span>Continue Reading<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5784"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5788,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5784\/revisions\/5788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thaianti-humantraffickingaction.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}