In June when they first heard the news that their county’s senate had voted through the new law that would change their lives forever, Kunchanok Khantiphong and Edward Jonathan Caiga were at work.
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In June when they first heard the news that their county’s senate had voted through the new law that would change their lives forever, Kunchanok Khantiphong and Edward Jonathan Caiga were at work.
On Tuesday the law allowing same sex couples to marry for the first time was endorsed and therefore officially made law by Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who became the nation’s tenth monarch in 2016.
Thailand’s LGBTQ+ couples will now be allowed to register marriages from January next year. This change will make Thailand the third place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage after Nepal, where the community were brutally suppressed before same sex marriage was eventually protected in law, and also Taiwan which became the first Asian country to vote for same sex marriage in 2019.
Now Taiwan has since gone further by allowing same sex marriages within the armed forces.
At home that evening, Khantiphong and Caiga celebrated over optimistic conversations of how their lives would change for the better. Marriage and building a family were important to both and since the change in law their dreams could become a reality.
Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, left, and his partner Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, watch television at home in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Khantiphong and Caiga celebrated over optimistic conversations of how their lives would change for the better.
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Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, left, blow dries the hair of his partner Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Marriage and building a family were important to both and since the change in law their dreams could become a reality.
Sakchai Lalit/AP
Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, watches his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, put stickers on his computer at home in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Marriage and building a family were important to both and since the change in law their dreams could become a reality.
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A hand drawn postcard made by Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, for his partner Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, is seen on a pin board at their home in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 13, 2024. Kunchanok, 27, and Caiga, 42, say they plan to get married once the law goes into effect.
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Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, front left, and Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, front right, raise a toast with their friends at the Banpuku Yokocho restaurant, where they had their first date, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Thailand has long had a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity.
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Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, left, and his partner Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, ride a bicycle at Nong Bon Lake Park in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Thai society, particularly in rural areas still has broadly conservative values.
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Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, and his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, left, feed bread to fish at Nong Bon Lake park in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Members of the LGBTQ+ community say they continue to face discrimination in their everyday lives.
Sakchai Lalit/AP
Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, left, and his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, leave after feeding the fish at Nong Bon Lake park in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Kunchanok said the law was a milestone in a country where it used to be very hard to love someone from the same gender.
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Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, speaks with a family member of his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Thailand’s LGBTQ+ couples will now be allowed to register marriages from January next year.
Sakchai Lalit/AP
Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, left, and his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42 play with pigeons at Nong Bon Lake Park in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. This change will make Thailand the third place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage
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Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, right, and his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, cook a meal at home in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Caiga, who came to Thailand from the Philippines 17 years ago, said he’s now feeling more secure.
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Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, displays a tattoo on his arm in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, July 14, 2024. Caiga says the new ink expresses being freed from the negative perceptions of other people.
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Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, right, and his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, eat lunch at home in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. “Thailand is now what I call home,” Edward said.
Sakchai Lalit/AP
Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, lifts dumbbells watched by his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Kunchanok said the law was a milestone in a country where it used to be very hard to love someone from the same gender.
Sakchai Lalit/AP
Caiga, who came to Thailand from the Philippines 17 years ago, said he’s feeling more secure and confident knowing that he’ll be able to live in Thailand permanently, and adopt a child or buy a home with his partner.
Displaying a tattoo that reads “Freed” across his right arm, Caiga says the new ink expresses being freed from the negative perceptions of other people, whether that may concern race, culture or diversity.
“This law will help enforce further the fundamental necessities, which is fair to have for everyone who wants to spend the rest of their lives with the people they love,” he said.
Kunchanok, 27, and Caiga, 42, say they plan to get married once the law goes into effect.
Thailand has long had a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity, but the country has nevertheless struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society, particularly in rural areas still has broadly conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they continue to face discrimination in their everyday lives.
Despite owing much of its support from the countryside the government led by the Pheu Thai party has made marriage equality one of its main goals. Notably the party had a major presence at the annual Bangkok Pride parade in June, in which thousands of people celebrated in one of Bangkok’s busiest commercial districts.
Kunchanok said the law was a milestone in a country where it used to be very hard to love someone from the same gender.
“After this law, we can be a whole package with each other. A real couple. A legal couple. I’ll be able to take care of him because he’s alone here,” he said.
On a clear Saturday morning, the couple rode their bikes to a nearby park to feed the birds and fish. Later, they had a video call with Edward’s family in the Philippines.
“Thailand is now what I call home,” Edward said.
The country has now joined a global community of nations that allow same sex marriage.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press