Why Thailand became a haven for LGBT couples
Thailand is set to legalise same-sex marriage - one of the few places in Asia to do so. Why is it an outlier?
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That is how Ann "Waaddao" Chumaporn describes the years that led to this moment – when hundreds of couples are tying the knot as Thailand legalises same-sex marriage.
And the same question which has been heard throughout the long campaign to get the equal marriage law passed is being asked again: why Thailand? Why nowhere else, aside from Taiwan and Nepal, in Asia?
People think they know the answer. Thailand is famously open to and accepting of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. They have long been visible in all walks of life. Thai people are easy-going about pretty much everything. "Mai pen rai" – no big deal – is a national catch-phrase. Buddhist beliefs, followed by more than 90% of Thais, don't forbid LGBT lifestyles. Surely, then, equal marriage was inevitable.
Except it wasn't. "It was not easy," says Ms Waaddao, who organises Bangkok Pride March.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly92g14edro
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