#thai politics

[pharawee]

Members of the House of Representatives join together in loud applause in the conference room. After passing the equal marriage law, it is prepared to be forwarded to the Senate. [source: The Standard]

Thailand’s lower house passed, on Wednesday, the Marriage Equality Bill which will make it the first country in South East Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The vote sailed through with a landslide 399 for and only 10 against, effectively bypassing any potential upper house veto.

The bill’s passage is a significant victory for LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in Thailand, who have been campaigning for marriage equality for years. It represents not just a legal change, but a profound statement of inclusion and acceptance in a society known for its vibrant and diverse LGBTQ+ community. [source: Thai Enquirer]

[poetry-protest-pornography]

GO THAILAND, GO!

[scarefox]

"The vote passed smoothly."

[telomeke]

OUR SKYY 2 X MY SCHOOL PRESIDENT GETS POLITICAL

OK, in case you didn't know it Thailand's Move Forward Party has upset the incumbents and erstwhile favorites and won the most number of seats in the recent (May 2023) Thai General Election.

As the party has declared it will form a coalition with the Pheu Thai Party (that won the next highest number of seats), they are assured of a majority in the Lower House (or House of Representatives, made up of 500 members chosen in the General Election).

HOWEVER, the Upper House (or Senate) is the one that decides who the PM will be, and also has the power to block/delay other moves by the Lower House.

It is important to note that the previous government (backed by the military, which itself took over the government in a 2014 coup) enacted a drastic change, in which the Upper House will comprise not just the 500 members of the Lower House, but also 250 members DIRECTLY APPOINTED by the military (which many in Thailand strongly feel is highly undemocratic, unfair and allows the military undue influence no matter the outcome of the elections, i.e., it bypasses the will of the people).

This is also worrisome for those rooting for the MFP to keep its campaign promise and legalize same-sex marriage, if the MFP's decisions can be stifled or stymied by the Upper House.

At OS2xMSP Ep.1 [1I4] 5.21, new Principal Ratchanee's announcement that the school president would not be elected, but instead would be APPOINTED by 250 teachers and parents (without the students having any say in the matter) is a DIRECT COMMENT on the Thai military's 250 appointees to the Upper House. 😂

PLUS she announces the new school president will be HER OWN SON, which underscores the fact that the process is open to all sorts of bias.

Trust Director Au and Producer Aof to weave in some barbed socio-political comment! There's a twist of the knife too when Principal Ratchanee says "approvals" and then corrects herself to say "people" instead. The word เสียง (siiang) that the subtitles translate to mean "approval" can also mean vote, and what she is saying here is that 250 individuals, instead of votes, have chosen the school president. This of course parallels the real-life political situation in Thailand, where 250 appointees have diluted the power of the citizen's vote.

Some excellent and super-spicy sauce being poured on here! 😂

[happypotato48]

i'm currently watching the hearing for marriage equality and holy fudge, after reading the timeline history of marriage equality in thailand i really want to choke all these old homophobic fucks who made us wait this long for this bill to even get to the senate.

[hallowpen]

I'm confused about the whole thailand marriage equality thing. Is it legal or not? Because people are saying it is but then I saw a post saying it's being debated in the senate on the 2nd and "fingers crossed." So it's not legal? I'm lost.

So...I think where the mixed messages are coming from are the folks that have an understanding of the Thai legislative process vs those who don't. Yes, the bill was passed in the lower house and the process dictates that it must now be approved by the (more conservative) upper house/senate before it can be signed into law by the king. However, it is highly unlikely that the upper house is going to vote against it. Why? Because if they did, it could and would go back to vote in the lower house which (given the overwhelming majority that voted to approve the bill in the first place) would have the numbers to bypass the upper house's decision anyway. And once a bill makes it past parliament, it's extremely rare for it not to receive royal approval. (Plus there are other courses of action that could be taken should that very rare instance occur anyway). What this means is that the marriage equality bill is essentially ensured to pass, though it is not technically officially legal yet. So really it's a matter of fingers crossed that this all goes smoothly and the bill is passed as soon as possible instead of having to prolong it any further.

@waitmyturtles posted this, which gives a bit more detail on how the process works! (Thank you!!! They have some other great references regarding Thai marriage equality that they've posted as well!) I'm pretty sure the question was in response to a post they made anyway hehe 🤍🤍🤍

[moerusai]

The Leader of Thailand's Move Forward Party Will Attend Man Suang's Premiere

krispond.w: Beautiful and exquisite. This card is for the important guest of our movie premiere "Khun Tim Pita" @tim_pita who will join us as another driving force for Thai movies and the Thai entertainment industry to become even more powerful, being the soft power of Thailand for all of us. Be proud of being Thai #Man Suang

(via Pond's IG, translated by Google. edited for clarity.)

Move Forward is a progressive, anti-establishment party whose policies include legalizing same-sex marriage and reforming Thailand's lèse-majesté laws.

They pulled an upset victory in the general 2023 election, winning 151 seats in the House of Representatives. Their leader, Khun Pita Limjaroenrat, formed an eight-party coalition for his Prime Minister bid. But unfortunately, the party's progressive polices are very unpopular with the military-appointed senate.

As of yesterday, the current military-controlled government has officially thwarted Khun Pita's PM bid. And voters are rightfully upset.

This is huge news. The Thai public and us international viewers can be assured that the production is aligned with the right people.

But to quote @discluded: "I don't want Thailand's struggle for people to have the democracy they deserve to be boiled down to: how will this affect the performance of my blorbo's movie."

Disclaimer: I am not Thai. I've just been following Thai politics closely.

[disaster-j]

!! THAILAND UPDATE !!

This is good news! It's not a done deal yet but this means there's still hope of the Marriage Equality Bill being passed into law if they can just keep pushing successfully!

(source)

[waitmyturtles]

Today in Thai politics (I'm no expert, just pasting links here!): as the Move Forward progressive party has lost its bid to name a Prime Minister and create an administration, its main political ally, the Pheu Thai party, looks primed to be in position to name its own Prime Minister.

For those of us (...maybe just me, ha) who are keeping track of this for references to catch later in our beloved dramas, I am tracking Pheu Thai's previous commitment to legalizing same-sex marriage in Thailand:

But the main split between the Move Forward and Pheu Thai parties is in the MFP's desire to reject Thailand's lèse-majesté law, which allows for prosecution against people who are thought to speak critically against Thailand's royal family, and which is used to limit critical discourse about controversial political decisions. The Pheu Thai party will not commit to taking the law off the books.

The Bangkok Post reports that even as the Pheu Thai party works on gaining support for creating its own administration, that it still faces an uphill battle from opposition parties who do not want a government with any alliance with Move Forward at all:

All in other words: WHOA, this shit's complicated. The leader of the Move Forward party, Pita Limjaroenrat, posted on Twitter a message of support for Pheu Thai to move ahead in forming a government. (And, friend @telomeke, I'm finally seeing it: in this video, Khun Pita really DOES look a little like Tay Tawan, HA! I'd like to see Tay play a role in the movie recap of all this madness.)

@telomeke, if you have the time and willingness, offering the floor to you for any further color here! I understand the Pheu Thai party was founded by the Shinawatra family, which seems to be a family with deep roots in business and real estate dealings... which nicely lends a deeper understanding of the kinds of criticisms against money and power in policing and politics that we see many of our shows (I'm seeing it very heavily in Manner of Death at the moment.)

[discluded]

recently, Apo appeared in an important news segment about the outgoing Thai PM

the reporter with the phone confirmed it was nong cattawin and posted a close up 🥺🥺🥺

Apo's "cool guy" reputation is 6 ft underground 😂

it was this news:

[pharawee]

🇹🇭🏳️‍🌈 But it is now confirmed!! https://x.com/saksithcna/status/1772884245981123020?s=46&t=mvTAw9jWfh8OZn8f86CleA

Thank you, anon. I've been excited for this the whole day. 🥳

I just hope they ultimately decide on the best possible version of the equal marriage act with full gender equality and equal rights when it comes to adoption and parenthood. 🙏

[poetry-protest-pornography]

Marriage Equality is one step closer in Thailand!

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

[scarefox]

(automatic ig translation)

[telomeke]

The latest twist in the ongoing saga. 👀

The party that won the most votes in Thailand's General Election, the Move Forward Party, has been dumped by its alliance partner Peu Thai Party, that was founded by wily ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra. So MFP is now in the opposition, and no longer part of the coalition forming the next government...

This will not be popular with the younger demographic and you can be sure we will be seeing more of this (including commentary in Thai dramas).

Tagging @waitmyturtles though you may already have seen this!

[thebroccolination]

Promising news from the Thai election!

The pro-democracy party has an early lead!

[hexenmeisterer]

Not Me politics+art links from Nuchy

here are some cool political/artistic Not Me things I’ve learned from scrolling through Nuchy’s twitter, and then watching this 2+ hour long english subbed interview with Nuchy and the two other writers of the show, Noolek and M:

The van liberation scene in episode 14 was heavily based on a real-life thing that happened (video of the real-life event is included in this tweet) (I haven’t found any info beyond this video, so if you know when/where it happened or have a news article about it or something please share, I’m so curious!) - Nuchy tweeted “The scene in the series seem to be like a miracle but actually it's  inspired by the true event. We cant film an extravaganza people chasing the van scene, so I changed to the pov of the gang in the van instead with a new perspective and artistic approach.” - Noolek tweeted (this one’s just run through google translate though) “You guys are our inspiration in this scene. The scene is gone and I cry every time I watch it. It triggers us a lot. We pecked ourselves with a million swearing in our heads. but when the fire has been ignited The candle flame will never be extinguished again. because sovereignty truly belongs to the people” - Nuchy held a Twitter Spaces event with Amnesty Thailand talking with families of victims of forced disappearance.

the speaker on the megaphone at the protest in ep 13 is Thatchapong Kaedum AKA Boy, a Thai activist who does a lot of work - against the Chana industrial project (”which includes the construction of industrial facilities, deep-sea ports, and biomass power plants. However, the approval was made without any local participation and many questioned the government for its lack of inclusion and transparency.") -in support of Karen people’s right to return to their homeland in Bong Kloi in the Kaeng Krachan forests in Thailand, after being violently displaced to create a national park there

... you may recognize the details of this story from a combination of Not Me plot points: a) the native people who were forced off the same land Tawi built his house on because they couldn’t “prove” residency on that land b) the diplomat interview question White gets about UNESCO refusing to grant world heritage site status because of Thailand’s human rights abuses-- this notably did NOT happen here-- UNESCO granted Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex a spot on the World Heritage List despite human rights advocates saying they shouldn’t.

Nuchy invited real activists to be part of the crowd in multiple protest scenes as well-- the crowd from that scene in ep 13 were from Talu Fah, a pro-democracy protest group, and the pride rally crowd were real LGBT activists.

The rainbow flag scene was not originally going to be a whole pride thing, it was going to be a mostly Tawi-centric protest. But then, like 3 days before they shot that scene, the Constitutional Court upheld section 1448, which defines marriage as only between a woman and a man, so Nuchy decided to gather up her LGBT activist contacts real quick to add in that element.

this June Nuchy shared a video from Thailand’s first official Pride parade in 16 years: people jumping and dancing under the flag just like the scene from Not Me 

Nuchy highlighted some artists featured in the series!: - Rap Against Dictatorship, from the scene where Eugene dances, are here on twitter and here’s an English-language article about their song “16 years” (I can’t find the lyrics translated into english sadly, but I do really like this song! and the article gives you a vague outline of what they’re talking about.) - Oat Montien, who did Yok’s art! He is a friend of Nuchy’s, and she mentioned she chose him because his art explored homoeroticism. He actually came on set and worked with First on how to pay attention like an artist would for his drawing scenes. - KNN.5 who did Namo’s art! - Baphoboyz, who did the UNAR art! 

Also: upcoming Nuchy projects!!

Forbidden, the first Thai-language HBO series, will be coming out sometime this year! it’s a supernatural thriller show directed by Nuchy and Josh Kim.

Nuchy will be directing a Hollywood film with producer Dean Altit and the writer JittiRain. The article says there will be one lead actor from America and one lead actor from Thailand!