section_path: Abstract
section_name: Abstract
paragraph_text: The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Thailand are regarded as some of the most comprehensive of those in Asia. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal. Legalization of same-sex marriage and adoption of children by married same-sex couples was signed into law in 2024, and came into force on 23 January 2025. Thailand was the first Asian UN member state to pass a comprehensive same-sex marriage law, as well as the first in Southeast Asia and the 38th in the world. About eight percent of the Thai population, five million people, are thought to be in the LGBT demographic.
  
  In 2013, the Bangkok Post said that "while Thailand is viewed as a tourist haven for same-sex couples, the reality for locals is that the law, and often public sentiment, is not so liberal." A 2014 report by the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations Development Programme said that LGBT people "still face discrimination affecting their social rights and job opportunities", and "face difficulty gaining acceptance for non-traditional sexuality, even though the tourism authority has been promoting Thailand as a gay-friendly country".
  
  Changes in attitudes and public policy towards LGBT issues began to occur in Thailand during the 1990s and, in particular, the early part of the 21st century. In 2015, Thailand enacted a comprehensive anti-discrimination law, which covered sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2022, a group of bills were introduced in the Thai parliament that would have granted either civil partnerships or full marriage for same-sex couples, but did not reach their final readings before parliament was dissolved for the 2023 elections and consequently lapsed. In November 2023, the Srettha Thavisin -led Cabinet approved a draft same-sex marriage bill, which was considered by Parliament on 21 December 2023 along with three similar drafts proposed by opposition parties and the civil sector. All four passed overwhelmingly and was combined into one bill, which passed the House of Representatives on 27 March 2024 and the Senate on 18 June 2024.