#thailand

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Yin Anan Wong, War Wanarat

[sayruq]

[one-time-i-dreamt]

[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]

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Wat Arun - Bangkok - Thailand (by Sebastian Dahler)

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Cutie Pie (2022) Boun Noppanut, Prem Warut, Zee Pruk, NuNew Chawarin

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Source

Let’s go

[reasonsforhope]

"Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house of Parliament overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill on Wednesday that would make the country the first in Southeast Asia to legalize equal rights for marriage partners of any gender.

The bill passed its final reading with the approval of 400 of the 415 members of the House of Representatives in attendance, with 10 voting against it, two abstaining and three not voting.

Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity but has struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society largely holds conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday life. The government and state agencies are also historically conservative, and advocates for gender equality have had a hard time pushing lawmakers and civil servants to accept change.

[Note: As always, worth noting that all of those things can be said about the US and plenty of Western countries too. The West isn't magically non-homophobic.]

The bill now goes to the Senate, which rarely rejects any legislation that passes the lower house, and then to the king for royal endorsement. This would make Thailand the first country or region in Southeast Asia to pass such a law and the third in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal.

The bill amends the Civil and Commercial Code to change the words “men and women” and “husband and wife” to “individuals” and “marriage partners.” It would open up access to full legal, financial and medical rights for LGBTQ+ couples...

The new government led by Pheu Thai, which took office last year, has made marriage equality one of its main goals."

-via AP News, March 27, 2024

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One Night in Bangkok

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Lime pot in the shape of a cat, Thailand, 11th-12th century

from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Perth Tanapon, Chimon Wachirawit

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Furina & Focalors in thai traditional costume! Happy Loy Krothong festival in thailand! I really love fontaine archon quest (; v ;) I record timelapse for this piece so I think I will include it here too!

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Sexy and funny artist Marisa Papen, Koh Kood, Thailand, Jasper Suyk. 2015

[reasonsforhope]

"This decade has been one of the most positive for news about tiger conservation of any since conservation science began in earnest, and a highlight must be this mother tiger and her two cubs sighted in Western Thailand, the first such sighting in more than 10 years of close monitoring.

Tigers are stable or increasing across their entire remaining strongholds, including China, Russia, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and now Thailand—the only Southeast Asian country to see measurable increases in tiger population over the last 12 years.

There may now be as many as 190 tigers in the country, up from 46 logged in a population survey in 2007.

The sight of the mother and her cubs, in the Salak Phra Wildlife Sanctuary, part of the sprawling Western Forest Complex of Thungyai–Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries that stretch across 2,400 square miles, is a sign that Thailand’s conservation efforts are really working; not only are tigers breeding outside of core areas, but that must therefore mean there is enough large game, like sambar deer, to feed them.

“This is a big news for us,” said Rattapan Pattanarangsan, the conservation program manager at the Thai chapter of Panthera, a renowned wildcat conservation NGO. “…now we are the source, we can produce tigers from our place. That means our place is safe enough, and has enough prey for the mothers to eat and breed.”

Neighboring Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam haven’t been able to make meaningful progress in restoring their tigers, and if they ever needed a few individual animals, Thailand now has a stable, growing population that is adapted to similar forest conditions.

Pattanarangsan told The Guardian that creative efforts to stop poachers, such as by working together with ranchers to place early warning cameras on forest trails have worked significantly.

Reductions in commercial bamboo harvesting have also reduced human-tiger conflict, and the animals look poised to continue flourishing in the western rainforests of the country."

-via Good News Network, January 8, 2024

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Beach on Phuket, Thailand

[travelbinge]

By Mblockk

Phi Phi Islands, Thailand