Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing marriage equality in Thailand. This is a topic we have discussed rather frequently in other videos on this channel. The reason for this one is I was reading a recent article in the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Pattaya Gay parade emphasizes equality and commercialism. I urge those who are watching this video go check that out but I thought this particular excerpt was relevant to make this video and then we will get into the analysis. Quoting directly: "The parade comes at a pivotal moment for gay rights in Thailand as a bill to grant same sex civil union status is currently wending its bureaucratic way through Parliament. This is seen as more likely to pass than full marriage because of opposition to complete equality in sections of the military-backed Government. The Pattaya pressure group Alliance for Gender Equality said not to worry as, even in the UK, gay civil unions historically preceded marriage. They point out that homosexuality was classified in Thailand as a psychiatric disorder as recently as 2005. Never try to hurry the Orient is the rule of thumb."  Yeah, kind of well put across the board there. But I think just to quote this one more time, "Alliance for Gender Equality says not to worry as even in the UK, gay civil unions historically preceded marriage."

Yeah, the US was a little strange on this because the US Supreme Court kind of came down like a lightning bolt and just fundamentally changed the well frankly the law, regarding recognition at least of same sex civil unions or same sex, let me be clear, same sex marriage. Civil Union, I mean there were various States that had legislation that legalized Civil Unions but when the Supremes finally got a hold of it in any meaningful way, I mean they basically just came down and said "Look there is full marriage equality. That is just the way it is." But other countries, notably many places in the Commonwealth, it is my understanding this kind of evolved over time. It started off with Civil Unions and then as time went on, new legislation was either passed or the Courts took it up and they said look there just needs to be full equality.

My thing at this point, where we are at in Thailand, and remember Thailand is a very conservative country, I think Civil Unions would be a big step in the right direction. Let me be clear, I don't think it is the destination but I think it is a big step in the right direction for folks, especially for things like estate planning, tax planning, making determinations. It remains to be seen how this would impact things like Immigration if at all, or Immigration Policy, Immigration Law if at all. So again we are kind of in a 'wait and see' mode right now to see exactly what passes and to see exactly how it is promulgated in order to understand the ramifications of any change on the policy here. Like I said, if all that were to happen in 2022 is a Civil Union bill, I think you have got to put that in the 'win' column even though again it is not the final destination, it is just simply one more major stride on the path to full marriage equality here in the Kingdom of Thailand.