#thai politics

[pharawee]

Celebrations marking the beginning of marriage equality in Thailand are underway at the Government House.

Source: Thai Enquirer

[Image descriptions: 1. A pride march. The people marching wear rainbow sashes and carry rainbow flags, some with Thai writing on them. The onlookers hold mini rainbow flags and other signs as they watch.

2. A person in a rainbow coat holds up a sign that says, ‘สมรส เท่าเทียม ผ่าน แล้ว’ [marriage equality passed]

3. A float showing people in rainbow clothing and sashes waving rainbow flags.

4. A sapphic couple rides an open wagon in a parade.

5. A man holds up a certificate in front of a progress pride flag with a Thai queer organisation’s logo on it.

6. A gay couple pose next to each other while waving progress pride flags. A large flag held by someone else frames the two from the left.

7. A group of marchers with rainbow flags and sashes.

8. A gay couple in white suits pose in front of a rainbow flag and their marriage certificates. The Government House is visible in the background. \End descriptions]

(a big thank you to @a-captions-blog for the image descriptions)

[hallowpen]

The Marriage Equality Law has been enacted in Thailand...

The news that His Majesty, the King has signed and approved the Marriage Equality Law was announced in the Royal Gazette today, September 24, 2024. This means that the law will officially come into effect on January 22, 2025!!!

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

What new changes has the law brought into effect?

- Two individuals can marry regardless of gender

- The minimum age for marriage has been raised from 17 to 18 (You will still need parental consent to marry should you be under the age of 20, which is what Thailand considers a "legal adult")

- Thai citizens can register their foreign marriages under Thai Law (I am very happy to see this being specified as I wasn't sure it would be-- big excitement for someone who has a 'foreign' partner)

- Joint Adoptions are allowed

- Spouses have the right to inherit after spousal death

- Spouses can be assigned as medical proxies to make any/all medical decisions for their spouse

- Spouses gain rights under social security law: including compensation and retirement benefits in case of spousal death

- Spouses are entitled to tax benefits, including personal income tax deductions

[SOURCE]

Looking to the future, there is currently a draft for the "Gender Identity Recognition Act" that, I desperately hope, is on its way to parliament 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾

[pigglepiephi]

What it means 😭🏳️‍🌈

Congratulations Thailand!!

[poetry-protest-pornography]

Happy Pride, Thailand! 🌈

Golf is mentioned here ⬇️

And in this article, the "members of the Thai lgbtq community" are Porsche and Arm!

I'm so, so happy, y'all ♥️🧡💛💚💙💜

[lurkingshan]

I hope Thai production companies take a page from Taiwan and shoehorn a wedding into every single QL for at least the next five years

[scarefox]

Imagine being this stuck in the echo chamber of the anti-BL & purity culture bubble

(said video I shared a few times here on tumblr as well, but here it is again)

[queerism1969]

[telomeke]

OUR SKYY 2 X MY SCHOOL PRESIDENT GETS POLITICAL

OK, in case you didn't know it Thailand's Move Forward Party has upset the incumbents and erstwhile favorites and won the most number of seats in the recent (May 2023) Thai General Election.

As the party has declared it will form a coalition with the Pheu Thai Party (that won the next highest number of seats), they are assured of a majority in the Lower House (or House of Representatives, made up of 500 members chosen in the General Election).

HOWEVER, the Upper House (or Senate) is the one that decides who the PM will be, and also has the power to block/delay other moves by the Lower House.

It is important to note that the previous government (backed by the military, which itself took over the government in a 2014 coup) enacted a drastic change, in which the Upper House will comprise not just the 500 members of the Lower House, but also 250 members DIRECTLY APPOINTED by the military (which many in Thailand strongly feel is highly undemocratic, unfair and allows the military undue influence no matter the outcome of the elections, i.e., it bypasses the will of the people).

This is also worrisome for those rooting for the MFP to keep its campaign promise and legalize same-sex marriage, if the MFP's decisions can be stifled or stymied by the Upper House.

At OS2xMSP Ep.1 [1I4] 5.21, new Principal Ratchanee's announcement that the school president would not be elected, but instead would be APPOINTED by 250 teachers and parents (without the students having any say in the matter) is a DIRECT COMMENT on the Thai military's 250 appointees to the Upper House. 😂

PLUS she announces the new school president will be HER OWN SON, which underscores the fact that the process is open to all sorts of bias.

Trust Director Au and Producer Aof to weave in some barbed socio-political comment! There's a twist of the knife too when Principal Ratchanee says "approvals" and then corrects herself to say "people" instead. The word เสียง (siiang) that the subtitles translate to mean "approval" can also mean vote, and what she is saying here is that 250 individuals, instead of votes, have chosen the school president. This of course parallels the real-life political situation in Thailand, where 250 appointees have diluted the power of the citizen's vote.

Some excellent and super-spicy sauce being poured on here! 😂

[twig-tea]

I am very happy that Golf got to direct the first legal gay marriage for GMMTV in Wandee Goodday (of Oyei and Cher) and the first queer marriage to be called legal in-show post the confirmation that the law would pass this year, considering their efforts on that front and their history with that movement.

[Technically I think the first legal Thai gay marriage depicted on screen goes to Khondiao and Yi in Naughty Babe, because they manifested that this law would come through in 2024]

[happypotato48]

i'm currently watching the hearing for marriage equality and holy fudge, after reading the timeline history of marriage equality in thailand i really want to choke all these old homophobic fucks who made us wait this long for this bill to even get to the senate.

[not-your-asian-fantasy]

x

[pharawee]

Members of the House of Representatives join together in loud applause in the conference room. After passing the equal marriage law, it is prepared to be forwarded to the Senate. [source: The Standard]

Thailand’s lower house passed, on Wednesday, the Marriage Equality Bill which will make it the first country in South East Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The vote sailed through with a landslide 399 for and only 10 against, effectively bypassing any potential upper house veto.

The bill’s passage is a significant victory for LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in Thailand, who have been campaigning for marriage equality for years. It represents not just a legal change, but a profound statement of inclusion and acceptance in a society known for its vibrant and diverse LGBTQ+ community. [source: Thai Enquirer]

[hallowpen]

June's 2024 Pride Month is fast approaching in Thailand, so I thought now would be the perfect time to explain the Thai legislative process and what the future of the Marriage Equality Bill looks like:

How Does A Bill Become Law in Thailand? I'm going to explain it as simple as possible. A bill is always first introduced into the National Assembly. The National Assembly is broken down into two houses: you have the lower house (House of Representatives) and the upper house (Senate). First, the bill goes through consideration in the lower house and there's three separate readings. Once it gets approved on its third reading, it's then sent to the upper house where it has to go through the same process. Again, it goes through three separate readings. Then if it's approved on its third reading, the PM (Prime Minister) sends it to the King for royal approval. If the King signs the bill, it'll become law once it is published in the Royal Gazette.

At What Point in the Process is the Marriage Equality Bill? In April, the Senate voted "Yes" to accept the bill for consideration. A committee will be formed to consider the bill in its second reading--which will not happen until July. So, really we're just waiting because the current senatorial term ends early this month... Unfortunately, given the timeframe of how the process works, the bill was never going to be realistically passed by Pride 2024. It is a little bit disappointing, but there's still lots to celebrate. Thailand is seeking to host the World Pride Events in Bangkok by 2028...So there is a lot to look forward to, regardless. (Best case scenario*, marriage equality will be legal by November 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾)

What Will Happen during the Second Reading in the Senate? The second reading is where things get a little more complicated. This is probably the biggest hurdle to overcome for the bill to be passed as quickly as possible. Once the committee is appointed, they'll be going through the bill section by section. Any amendments that were proposed from the lower house, which this go around is mostly just about equal representation in the language of the bill, will be considered (Consideration cannot exceed 30 days). The hope is that all 27 members of the committee will vote to agree with the amendments and then the bill will be revised as such. However, at this stage, if the committee cannot come to a full agreement, then the amendments must be debated. During debate, if the majority approve the amendments, the text is revised and the bill moves on to the third reading. If the bill is withheld, meaning the Senate doesn't agree to any of the amendments, it goes back to the lower house for reconsideration.

What Happens if the Bill is Presented for Reconsideration in the Lower House? The lower house can agree and approve the bill as is. But if the lower house does not agree with the Senate's decision or if the Senate has proposed amendments that the lower house does not agree with, then the two houses must form a joint committee that will work to resubmit an agreed upon version of the bill. From there, my knowledge is pretty limited, but I know due to the numbers from the houses initial votes, the bill would eventually be approved by a combination of votes from both houses.

What Happens during the Third Reading in the Senate? During the third reading of the bill, the Senate must decide whether to enact the bill as law or not. They're not allowed to change anything on the bill and they cannot debate any of the amendments. It's just: here's the bill, it's being presented as it's been approved by the second reading, should it be passed as law or not? One more than the majority of the vote is needed in the upper house in order for the bill to be approved.

What Happens if the Senate Votes "No" on the Bill? The bill can be reintroduced into the lower house after 180 days. If the lower house votes to approve the bill that was presented in the third reading of the upper house (which they will), it basically bypasses the Senate's decision to not approve the bill. From there it'll go directly from the lower house to the PM... who will present it to the King for royal approval. Like I've been saying: the bill is eventually going to become law at some point. It's just a matter of when. Because if the Senate decides to make things difficult, then it would just take longer for the bill to pass. Since it's going to pass eventually, we want everything to go as smoothly as possible without any hiccups.

What is the Likelihood of the Senate Voting "Yes"? It's hard to give a definitive answer. The expectation is that, since they know the bill is going to eventually become law anyway, they're just going to do the decent thing and approve it so that they don't have to prolong things any further... because it's taken long enough at this point. The problem is that the upper house is more notoriously known as the conservative house of the National Assembly. And if you understand Thai and were paying attention to the discussions that were going on in their first reading, you can kind of see why that is. Unfortunately, there is a chance that they're going to want to make things more difficult... but I'm hopeful that they won't.

**UPDATE**: As of 18/06/24 the Senate has voted YES to approve the Marriage Equality Bill... which means it should be enacted into law by OCTOBER!!!

What Happens if the Senate Votes "Yes"? Once the National Assembly approves the bill, it goes to the King for approval. After the King receives the bill from the PM, he would have a period of twenty days from when he received it to sign it into law. Once it is signed, it is arranged for publication in the gazette. After 120 days from its publication, it is considered officially legal in Thailand.

**UPDATE**: The Royal Gazette has announced that the King has signed and passed the Marriage Equality Law which has been enacted as of 24/09/2024... the law will come into effect after 120 days!

Can the King Veto the Bill? He can...BUT the King's never used his veto once the National Assembly has approved a bill. In the extremely rare case that he does, the lower house would reintroduce the bill and the National Assembly would vote to bypass the King's veto anyway. The bill can then be sent directly to the gazette, with or without the King's signature, to be published into law. 

*The best case scenario, overall, is that 1) the Senate votes to approve any and all amendments during the second reading and 2) in the third reading they vote to approve the bill in its amended form. Then the PM will present that bill to the King, it'll be signed, and then published in the gazette. And, that's it. Then you have marriage equality in Thailand. Officially!!!   

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Marriage equality has been in talks for a while in Thailand, and a lot of us were frustrated when it didn't get passed the first few times around. Now that we know that it's going to be legal, I'm hopeful about what this could mean in the future: Gender recognition... full and equal protection under the law... I was 11 when I moved to the United States to live with my dad (I won't get into the reasons why, they're very personal) and ~11 years later, when marriage equality passed I could not express the amount of joy that had overcome me...and I was only 21 at the time, with no intention of being married in the near future. Yet, for some reason, I felt as though I could not be fully excited because things were so different back home. What I could have here, I could not have if I ever decided to move back to Thailand. That's not to say that Thailand is not very culturally accepting of the LGBTQIA+ community, because they are (for the most part), it's just that the laws have failed to keep up. Given my personal situation, which I don't typically feel comfortable sharing with people I don't really know, something as simple as being able to change my gender indicator on my Thai I.D. and my passport...those are things that can now be dreamt into reality. Whereas before, it was something that you couldn't even fathom being a discussion had marriage equality not been passed. It's just a really big deal and I'm happy to see that it's finally happening! ❤️

[waitmyturtles]

Following Thailand’s politics recently has been giving me whiplash (not withstanding the emotional injuries I’m already sustaining with the elections in the US). Information in this article about what led to the dissolution of the Move Forward party (the popular progressive party that was blocked from taking power in the last set of Thai elections) is definitely worth reading, along with an assessment of the state of democracy in Thailand as well.

[poetry-protest-pornography]

Marriage Equality is one step closer in Thailand!

[scarefox]

"The vote passed smoothly."