Transcript of the above video: 

As we have done videos about here recently and as I have talked about for some years now, the issue of LGBT marriage, basically marriage equality, same-sex marriage, is one that has been in the forefront of thinking among certain expats and Thais here in Thailand here recently as we have seen legislation promulgated which will legalize same-sex marriage here in Thailand, which will be coming into effect here in January. 

Now I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Ministry to host Marriage Equality Act event. Quoting directly: "The Interior Ministry will host a launch event for the Marriage Equality Act at the United Nations Convention Centre in Bangkok next Monday to showcase Thailand's readiness for implementing the law on January 23..." So the law comes into effect on the 23rd. It will be possible for same-sex couples to get married after that point here in Thailand. Quoting further: "...the first of its kind in the country. Ministry Spokeswoman Traisulee Taisaranakul said the event, organized by the Ministry and the Department of Provincial Administration (DoPA), will be attended by 400 participants, including officials, the UN and Embassies, and the media. Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who also serves as a Deputy Prime Minister, is set to preside over the event. The key announcement will focus on the readiness of Registrar's nationwide to process marriage registrations for same-sex couples." 

And that is really the thrust of this video. We've been talking about same sex marriage for some time, and the question raised is look, this is changing the laws, presumably it's going to change the regulations then and the protocols associated with getting married here in Thailand. On top of that, it is going to add people to the queues to get married here in Thailand. So, the question is, how is that going to impact from a practical standpoint, the processing of marriage registration here in Thailand. My initial prediction is at least for the next 6 months presume it may slow things down a little bit - even for different sex couples - because again we are adding case volume to what already existed, so it could slow things down a little bit. Do I expect the regulations to be radically different for same-sex couples versus different-sex couples? Unlikely, as they are treated in the eyes of the law the same way, so presumably, the procedures would remain the same for both. 

Now when they implement things like this, they also oftentimes implement new regulations at the same time, as it's just convenient to do one at the same time as the other. So, we could see that occur and if that does happen, we could see extra processing time sort of tacked on if you will to the overall process of getting carried here in Thailand. Again, that remains to be seen, but we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.