Thailand

In 2024, Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill passed its final reading in the Senate in June 2024 and came into effect on January 22, 2025, a day celebrated in Thailand with mass weddings capping over two decades of activism for marriage equality. The bill uses gender-neutral terms such as “marriage partners” and “individuals” instead of women, men, husbands, and wives. It guarantees same-sex couples the right to adopt and secures their inheritance rights, including other benefits such as tax benefits, health care decision-making, and spousal rights.

Thailand’s Gender Equality Act (2015) prohibits discrimination against persons “of a different appearance from his/her own sex by birth” or a “sexual expression different from that person’s original sex” in multiple domains such as housing and employment. However, it has been criticized for wording that allows exemptions for religious or security reasons, leaving some gaps in protections.

Having never been colonized, Thailand does not have anti-sodomy laws as colonial remnants. LGBTIQ people enjoy relatively freer lives in Thailand than in neighboring countries. Traditional gender diversity is widely accepted in the form of kathoeys, largely understood at present as transfeminine individuals. However, despite having a positive reputation internationally for LGBTIQ people’s rights and being a destination for gender-affirming health care, activists have repeatedly noted that this perception is exploited by the tourism industry. In reality, there are significant limits to tolerance for queer and trans persons, accompanied by harmful stereotypes.

Trans people do not enjoy full protection from discrimination. Binary gendered uniforms are strongly enforced across educational institutions. Invasive questioning and violation of privacy are routine in health care settings. Thai Medical Council regulations describe a transgender person as “a person with behavior indicating confusion.” While a transgender person is eligible to apply for a name change, the discretion rests with government officials. The Thai national citizen ID issued to all citizens uses binary gender prefixes based on gender assigned at birth.

There is no legal process that allows people to change their official gender markers. However, four different versions of gender recognition bills based on self-determination have been floated and are pending discussion in Parliament, including one drafted by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, and others advanced by the People’s Party, an intersex organization, and another civil society organization. Speaking at an event in May 2024 before Pride Month, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, then-leader of the Pheu Thai Party and former prime minister, promised a push for legal gender recognition before 2030.

Intersexphobia remains a problem, and children are subjected to nonconsensual medical interventions. At least one of the draft gender recognition laws, filed by activists in 2024 and on file with Outright, would address harmful intersex genital surgeries and discrimination, and pave the way toward intersex legal gender recognition.